JAMES BURTON, AGE 17

Just look at that. That's a great rock 'n' roll photo, isn't it? It's Bob Luman, backed by James Kirkland on bass, and a seventeen year old James Burton on guitar. Yeah, seventeen. The same line up is below, a high quality clip from the film Carnival Rock. Check out Burton's playing, not just the solo. His fills are compact and spot on. Kirkland and Burton would go on to back Ricky Nelson. After Nelson, Burton was hot property. He's on, I don't know, something like half of the records ever recorded. Luman went country.

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Listen:
Bob Luman - In the Deep Dark Jungle mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Bob Luman - Red Cadillac and a Black Mustache mp3 at Razorland
Visit:
James Burton at Wikipedia His CV is mind blowing. Check it out.
James Kirkland - Lengthy interview at Art of Slap Bass
Luman, Kirkland and  Burton - Giant high resolution uncropped version of photo above.

SECOND STRINGERS RULE

I just realized, tomorrow is the first day of summer. So, here's some surf stuff. The first are a couple by Dave Myers and the Surftones, a band that were big in Southern California, but pretty much Joe Blows everywhere else. Myers was a folkie hanging out at the Café Frankenstein in Laguna Beach, before ditching the sandals and daddy-o schtick and going electric. He embedded himself deep enough in the surf circuit to take over the prime slot at the Harmony Park Ballroom when the house band, Dick Dale and the Deltones, had a night off. You wouldn't know it by the two below, which are slow burns, but he was a bit of a showman, picking with his teeth and playing behind his head, you know the typical stuff that doesn't add a thing to the music, but makes people think you're hot shit. 

The bonus here today is something I just ran into, the fruits of an unproductive Dave Myers search, one of those "just one more click" things when you're about ready to throw in the towel. (And, yes, I know you want to read about some asshole doing a web search.) I ran into a slew of great surf instrumental stuff at Big O. There's about forty in all, along with a couple period radio spots. There are a few things cool about this. It's all from vinyl, so you get your requisite pops, it's all individual mp3s so you can pick and choose, and most of it is pretty obscure. It's good, varied stuff, low on the hokum. Even you surf fiends should find something you haven't heard.

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Listen:
Dave Myers and the Surftones - Aquavelva mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Dave Myers and the Surftones - Driftin' mp3 at Shark Thang
The mother lode:
Surfer's Mood - Forty plus songs, all at Big O Archive (Roio) Go there to get 'em.

CRASH COURSE

Here's a nice contrast and compare exercise for anyone not really sure what the Jamaican DJ or toaster actually does. The first thing you should know is that they don't actually play records. In a nutshell, they talk, shout, boast, comment, make fanciful noises, and throw in a few of there own personal catch phrases, basically just about everything vocal but sing, and they do it over records being played at sound systems. Jamaican sound systems were basically mobile discos. In the beginning (late fifties) they played rhythm and blues, later moving to ska, rocksteady, and reggae, as Jamaican music evolved. DJing started back with Count Machuki, credited by most as the first person to toast over Jamaican records. It was one of those serendipitous improvised moments of brilliance. He was just fucking around, killing time while the sound system operator Tom the Great Sebastian took a break, just throwing out stuff over the records being played. When the crowd dug it, he went home and started working on his rhymes. "If you dig my jive, you're cool and very much alive, Everybody all round town, Machukis' the reason why I shake it down, When it comes to jive, You can't whip him with no stick."  People went nuts, so in no time others followed suit.

Which brings me to the song "The Tide Is High" by the Paragons, recorded at Duke Reid's studio in 1967. Here's the original version, along with an early U Roy version, toasting over it sans lead vocal. You can hear that a good DJ adds flavor, and U Roy was one of the best. (Just for context, the antiseptic version by Blondie is down there too. They add no flavor.) If you listen to enough U Roy, you'll start to recognize his catch phrases, which made me think of the last one below, "D.J.'s Choice" by Dennis Alcapone. It's a bit of a novelty, in that the first verse name drops about eight or so DJ's, followed by one of their catch phrases. The song actually annoys me, but I'm that way about name dropping in songs. Regardless, it's a  DJ toasting about other DJs, so it's interesting.

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Listen:
The Paragons - The Tide Is High mp3 at Cubik Musik
U Roy - Tide Is High mp3 at A.Tumblr (?)
Blondie - The Tide Is High mp3 at Evil Vince
Dennis Alcapone - D.J.'s Choice (streaming) at YouTube
Visit:
DJ at Wikipedia
The Tide Is High at Wikipedia
More DJ stuff

THAT'S RIGHT, COOL.

Mose Allison might not be a familiar name to anyone who doesn't backtrack covers to check out the original versions. That said, any of you non-backtrackers that are into the Who or the Yardbirds would do well to check out the trio of songs posted at Funky Sixteen Corners. Included are the original versions of "I'm Not Talkin'" (covered by the Yardbirds) and "Young Man Blues" (covered by the Who) along with Allison's cover of Willie Dixon's "Seventh Son". Allison's originals may seem tame in comparison, but trust me on this, your cornucopia is big enough. Just for giggles, there's another Allison cover down there, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers' version of his "Parchman Farm".

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Listen:
Mose Allison - I'm Not Talkin', Young Man Blues, Seventh Son at Funky Sixteen Corners Go there to get them
The Yardbirds - I'm Not Talkin' mp3 at Yardbirds.us (?)
The Who - Young Man Blues mp3 at a.tumblr.com/tumblr (?)
John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers - Parchman Farm mp3 at Scissor Soft

MEET JOOP OONK

The rundown on the Jay-Jays: They were Dutch, recorded '66-'68. Nothing in print. Last reissue was a CD compilation of their complete recorded works released ten years ago (relatively easy to find used online). Before I go off about what an unexpected surprise this stuff is, let me introduce you to them. There's Leo Bennink (who was also apparently in Electric Baby and Rene and His Alligators) on guitar, harmonica and vocals, Tjibbe Veeloo on rhythm guitar and vocals, Kees Kranenburg Jr. keeping the beat, and lastly, because his name is probably the best name I've ever heard in my life, Joop Oonk on bass.

"Shake It Some More" has a top shelf riff going, so I listened to it a bunch of times in a row. You could easily imagine someone doing a louder cover of it. Yeah, you guessed it. I was thinking the Nomads, but hell, I'll take a cover by the Lyres. The other song down there, "Cruncher", is the Jay-Jays telling the Lyres to sit the fuck down. It's a complete guitar drum freakout, and I'm not exaggerating. It's Link Wray, Duane Eddy, and Dave Allan rolled into one, with feedback and other whacked out showoff shit.

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Listen::
The Jay-Jays - Shake It Some More mp3 at Beware of the Blog
The Lyres - Shake It Some More mp3 at Beware of the Blog
The Jay-Jays - Cruncher mp3 at Rock Town Hall
The compilation:
The Jay-Jay's - Bald Headed Woman at TwighllightZone! 22 song compilation. Download link is in the comments. Pop-ups possible.

HADACOLISM

Leave it to the Probe. I've mentioned Probe Is Turning-On the People several times in the past, and the latest post over there is a good example of why it's a stop on my rounds. The post is a thematic one, eighteen songs, all about Hadacol. If you didn't live in a dry county in the forties and fifties, there's a good chance you don't know what Hadacol is. It was a sold as a vitamin supplement, the sort of which would fix what ails you. But, despite the fact that the recommended dosage was one tablespoon, it was consumed a little more liberally. The reason why it was popular, why people swigged it and sang about it, was because it was 12 percent alcohol. And the stuff wasn't just marketed to adults, the elixir had a mascot in Captain Hadacol, with his own comic book, and redemption prizes that included squirt guns, roller skates and air rifles. Captain Hadacol's advice for parents: "Hadacolize your child's system, and watch those smiles all year 'round!" Yeah, uh-huh, sure. As soon as the parents get in front of the tube, the kids are chugging Havacol and wreaking ten kinds of havoc with that damn air rifle.

The mix is a good one, all sorts of stuff from the late forties through the early fifties, in all sorts of styles; including old timey, country and western, and rhythm and blues. Seems everybody had the Hadacol jones. Just imagine what the Probe's record collection is like, if he had eighteen Hadacol themed songs. Ho-ly shit. His site isn't the prettiest, and it's kind of a pain in the ass to navigate, but, but, but, there's a lot of really good music on it, and that's what keeps me going back.

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Listen:
Hadacol Time - 18 Songs at Probe Is Turning-On the People You may have to scroll down, it's Session 437. All 18 individual mp3s in a single zip.
Visit:
Captain Hadacol  at Savage Critics Good story, the comic book, and more music.
Hadacol at Wikipedia

NOT EXACTLY WHAT WE MEANT

As if being ass deep in Jerry Lee Lewis month wasn't enough, Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban just posted a 38 minute collection of stuff by the Remains. You know them, right? Get out your copy of Nuggets, the one disc collection or the box. "Don't Look Back", that ring a bell? Really? Aw shit, okay, a thumbnail here: They were big, really big, in Boston, their hot shit years were '65-'66, they opened for the Beatles on their final tour, and they coulda shoulda woulda been huge, if only the world wasn't obsessed with that hairy band that they opened for.

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Listen:
The Remains - Why Do I Cry mp3 at DK Presents
The Remains - Time of Day mp3 at Tashian.com
The Remains - Once Before mp3 at Raven Sings the Blues
The Remains - Mix at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban 38 minutes, one quick download. What are you looking at? Go over there and nab it.
Visit:
The Remains - Official site
The Remains at Wikipedia

REMINDER #247

When was the last time you actually sat down and listened to Big Joe Turner? Here's a handful of his that you should know. Lee Allen and Red Tyler on sax, at least on the first one. Pete Johnson on the piano on all of them. They sound good, so you should listen to them. Yes, they've been posted before, and, yes, I'm being lazy. Take a break from the funny haircuts. Get off my lawn and such.

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Listen:
Big Joe Turner - Honey Hush mp3 at Rockndog
Big Joe Turner - Shake, Rattle and Roll mp3 at Kiss Atlanta
Big Joe Turner - Well Alright mp3 at Probe is Turning-On the People
Big Joe Turner - Corrina Corrina mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
Big Joe Turner - Boogie Woogie Country Girl mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
Big Joe Turner - Sun Rising Blues mp3 at Jazzpla.net
Big Joe Turner - Chains of Love mp3 at Probe is Turning-On the People
Big Joe Turner and Pete Johnson - Roll 'em Pete mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Pete Johnson - Death Ray Boogie mp3 at AMRF
Lee Allen - Walkin' With Mr. Lee mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Johnny Burnette and the Rock n' Roll Trio - Honey Hush mp3 at RockinDog.com
Visit:
Big Joe Turner at Wikipedia

WELL, LOOK WHO'S BACK

Ladies, single file. King Khan is back. After six years of getting his personal shit taken care of, he's got a new LP coming out at the end of summer. What's that you say? I know, new releases don't generally create excitement here, but this guy is one of the trusty goofballs that keep things interesting. How, you might ask? There's the music that, even if you knew nothing about him, speaks for itself. As good as his music is (and believe me, it passes muster here) there is the Lou Reed Incident. Quick back story: Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson had invited Khan and Co. to play at the Sydney Opera House. Reed and Anderson liked their set, and invited them to their rehearsal the next day.  Khan was sitting next to Reed after Reed had just finished singing a song (continued below video).

From an excellent interview at Rollo and Grady, here's the exciting conclusion, in Khan's words: "I looked at Lou, who was sitting right next to me, and I said, “Lou, that song was really great, but you got something on your sweater.” He looks down and I totally flick his nose, like, “Bam.” He looks up at me. I guess he couldn’t believe that I did that. I was like, “Gotcha.” [Laughs] His face! It was like an ancient turtle was bitten by a fucking mosquito or something like that. He just looked at me and said, “Please. Don’t ever do that again.”. Admit it, you want to party with this guy. Here's two of the new ones and assorted shake from a previous post.

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Listen:
King Khan and the Shrines - Born To Die mp3 at Nevver New
King Khan and the Shrines – Bite My Tongue at The Music FM New
Older Khan:
King Khan & the Shrines - Destroyer mp3 at Rollo & Grady
King Khan & the Shrines - Burnin' Inside mp3 at I Am Fuel, You Are Friends
King Khan & the Shrines - Outta Harms Way mp3 at KEXP
King Khan & the Shrines -Torture mp3 at AW Music
King Khan & the Shrines - Welfare Bread -mp3 at Quiet Color
Visit:
King Khan - Official site
King Khan - Interview and six more songs at Rollo and Grady
King Khan at Wikipedia

THIS PHOTO IS HOT

After posting a few by the Ikettes a couple days ago, I guess it's only fair to give boss man and boss lady Ike and Tina Turner some equal time. Not really, I just ran into a bunch of their early stuff and thought I'd better point you towards them before I forgot about it. These are pure rhythm and blues, as in early and raw. If you're just familiar with "Proud Mary" or "River Deep, Mountain High" or other later stuff, you're in for a treat. Tina's sounding pretty tough. Fiends take note: the hosting blog, Groove Addict, seems to really be into them, so there's a lot more, ten posts in all. So if you dig these, hightail it over there. I ran into a couple others by Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm too, the second of which, the decidedly unsquare "Square Dance", has some mean picking.

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Listen:
Ike and Tina Turner - Pretend mp3 at Groove Addict 
Ike and Tina Turner - Wake Up mp3 at Groove Addict 
Ike and Tina Turner - Stagger Lee and Billy mp3 at Groove Addict
Ike and Tina Turner - A Fool In Love mp3 at Groove Addict 
Ike and Tina Turner - A whole lot more at Groove Addict
Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm - The Rooster mp3 (via DivShare) at Gemini Spacecraft 
Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm - Square Dance mp3 (via DivShare) at Gemini Spacecraft

SONIC DEATH MONKEY

Wait a minute. Stand back. Har Mar Superstar has a song I totally dig. I'd long ago dismissed him as a kind of a joke and never really paid attention.  To me he was always a guy who'd been in various bands and then tricked out a new persona, the Har Mar thing, branding himself as sort of a half naked R&B and hip hop ladies man. Then, a funny thing happened. He got better. After hearing "Lady You Shot Me", I'm now paying attention. It's like that scene in High Fidelity where Jack Black's character sings Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On". I love these kind of surprises.

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Listen
Har Mar Superstar - Lady, You Shot Me mp3 at Music Savage
Har Mar Superstar - Prisoner mp3 at Co-Sign
Visit:
Har Mar Superstar at Wikipedia
Har Mar Superstar official site

HEY MATHIS, SCARED YET?

You've probably heard Dick Dale sing before, and Johnny Otis's "Willie and the Hand Jive", and the Clash's "Guns of Brixton", but there's a whole lot of curiosities in the mix below of wannabe crooners. Ever heard a Venture sing? An odd Cramps song with Ivy singing? Hugh "Grazin in the Grass" Maskela doing a cover of "I Wasn't Made For These Times"? They're all worth hearing, and they're individual mp3s (in a zip), so you can dump the ones you don't like. But, c'mon, you know you're curious. 

Here's a couple semi-related moonlighters. The Link Wray cut is all time. I love this song. It's a Jimmy Reed cover. Let it go to at least the :18 second mark if you want to hear some real guttural panting, followed by a tough sounding "yeah". It's vocal stink eye. But I dig the whole song, the raw production, the solo, the repetitiveness. All time, like I said.

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Listen:
Link Wray - Ain't the Lovin' You Baby mp3 at Archive.org
Duane Eddy - Guitar Star mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
The mix:
Mace and Grenades: Instrumentalists Sing at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban 41 songs, in a zip

WE QUIT

I've no clue where I first heard "I'm Blue" by the Ikettes. I do know that it was a long time ago and must have been in under favorable circumstances because it always brings about one of those deja cool feelings. You know, when you just sort of just sink into a song, like hanging with an old buddy. It's gotten to the point that I never play it myself because I'd rather be surprised unexpectedly. I ran into it today, and once again, it hit the spot. 

The Ikettes had several lineups, which isn't that surprising when you consider that they were most often found backing the squabbling Ike and Tina Turner. There were some issues regarding royalties as well, and they already had a decent amount of notoriety, so yeah, there were a few "later with you" moments among the thirty plus past Ikettes. A few left and went on to sing as the Mirettes. A couple, Clydie King and Venetta Fields, left to back Ray Charles and others, including the Stones (four cuts on Exile On Main St.). Claudia Lennear is another one, she sang behind Joe Cocker and Leon Russell among others, and had solo stuff. Bonnie Bramlett was the first white Ikette, and later, with husband Delany as Delaney and Bonnie, was the first white act on Stax.That's only about a fourth of them.

A heads up here. Check out the lead vocals on "Blue On Blue", vocal chord shredding commences on the second word. And dig on Clydie King's "The Thrill Is Gone". Someone was listening to Spector stuff and Pet Sounds.

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Listen:
The Ikettes - I'm Blue mp3 at (via Box.net) at Dusty Sevens
The Ikettes - Blue On Blue mp3 at The Beiderbecke Affair
The Ikettes - I'm So Thankful mp3 at Lil' Mikes
The Mirettes - To Love Somebody mp3 (via Kiwi6) at Just Press Play
Clydie King - The Thrill Is Gone mp3 at Art Decade
Video:
The Ikettes - Peaches 'n' Cream at YouTube
Visit:
The Ikettes at Wikipedia

INSTRUMENTAL WHAT NOT

Aw, the good ol' days. When a band decided their groove was so good, they just kept it long and put it out as parts one and two on opposite sides of the same record. In this case, it could be that they pressed two different takes, because part one has fuzz guitar, part two does not. (What the hell?)  It's an Allen Toussaint production, on his Sansu label, and as far as I'm concerned he could get away with "Hot Tamale (Part 37)" and I'd still listen. The Prime Mates were led by Al Fayard, Toussaint's his former band mate in the Stokes, and there's a groove here that despite Toussaint's involvement, doesn't really have that New Orleans thing going, it sounds more like something from Packy Axton. With the rhythm section doing some serious plodding, coupled with he organ and chunka chunka rhythm guitar, it would make a boss reggae cover. Yeah, Jackie Mittoo, now that I think about it.

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Listen:
The Prime Mates - Hot Tamales (Pt 1) mp3 at Super Sonido
The Prime Mates - Hot Tamales (Pt 2) mp3 at Super Sonido (Go there to get it. Bottom of the post.)
Al Tousan (Allen Toussaint) - Cow Cow Blues mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban 
The Martinis (w/Packy Axton) - Hung Over mp3 at Rare Funk On 45 

Jackie Mittoo - Ghetto Organ mp3 at 8106

EPIC GIG MAN

Live albums are hit and miss, right? There's the overplayed dogs and the pedestrian disappointments, and then there's that tiny percentage that keeps us from dismissing all live LPs, the ones that capture an intensity that never made it to the studio. Jerry Lee Lewis' Live at the Star Club LP is one of those. Recorded with the Nashville Teens as a backing band, it's the Killer's determined "fuck you" and intimate "thank you" all wrapped into one ferocious 37 minute set. Really, critics and real people gush and slobber all over this stuff. A book has been written about it. It's regarded by every single person on this planet as one of the best live rock 'n' roll live LPs ever. Not really, it just seems like it. But it is intense, nothing pretty or half assed about it. You can imagine the wheels turning, "I don't care about that. I'm Jerry Lee and this is what I do."

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Listen:
Jerry Lee Lewis with the Nashville Teens - Whole Lotta Shakin' mp3 at DK Presents
Jerry Lee Lewis with the Nashville Teens - What I'd Say mp3 at Friend Feed-media.s3 (?)
Visit:
Jerry Lee Lewis with the Nashville Teens - Live at the Star Club at Wikipedia
Jerry Lee Lewis Month at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban

AND THE LIST GETS LONGER

Man, I took a wrong turn at The Hound Blog last night, and I'm glad I did. I ran into the video below of Victoria Spivey, with the great Willie Dixon on bass. Now, I'm not going to sit here and pretend that, before last night, I knew anything about Spivey. I had never heard her name before. You know-it-alls pipe down, I'm trying to illustrate a point here. That is, that no matter how much music you've listened to, or how long you've been digging through back catalogs and artists associated with this person or that, there's always someone who will slip through the cracks. Victoria Spivey is my latest crack dwelling want list add on.

A quick look at cheater central tells me that she was born in 1907, and the video is from a UK TV program from 1963, so she was about 57 when it was filmed and there's a few things that I found striking. One is that she was a good looking 57 year old woman, something that she probably knows as evidenced by here multiple coy looks, winks and what not. Once I got past that, I noticed that besides having a pretty remarkable voice, she can really, really tickle the ivories. Yep, you know it, here we go again.

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Listen
Victoria Spivey - Moanin' the Blues mp3 at African African 1929
Victoria Spivey - Dope Head Blues mp3 at Tom Siler 1927
Victoria Spivey and the Chicago Four - Detroit Moan mp3 at Archive.org 1936
Visit:
Victoria Spivey - Profile and discography at Red Hot Jazz 
Victoria Spivey at Wikipedia

GO THERE

Jerry Lee Lewis. One of the most openly flawed and incendiary figures in this all consuming mess that has altered the lives and priorities of just about every one of us. Think about it, his role in early rock 'n' roll. Sure, Elvis had the ants in his pants that prevented him from being shown from the waist down. Jerry Lee was Elvis from the waist down. You'd be hard pressed to find someone in early rock 'n' roll that exhibited more publicly an I-don't-give-a-shit attitude. As influential and talented as his peers were, Jerry Lee Lewis brought the unashamed swagger.

When worlds collide.

He's the featured artist over at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban this month. If you're not familiar with the site, let's just say that the contributors are like a who's who of East Coast rock 'n' roll types. Debbie D from WFMU, the Hound, "Snidely Whiplash" from Probe Is Turning-On the People, and Kogar the Swinging Ape. Those are just the ones I could think of off the top of my head. There's good people over there, true believers, and a month of the Killer. (I apologize for overusing this phrase, but this time I really mean it) Fuck, yeah. 

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

Listen:
Jerry Lee Lewis - Great Balls of Fire mp3 at Bousculade 1957
Jerry Lee Lewis - Lewis Boogie mp3 at iHow 1957
Jerry Lee Lewis - High School Confidential mp3 at Beware of the Blog 1958
Jerry Lee Lewis - Mexicali Rose mp3 at Beware of the Blog 1960
Jerry Lee Lewis - I Will Sail My Ship Alone mp3 at In Harms Way 1958
Jerry Lee Lewis with B.B. King - Before the Night Is Over mp3 at Cold Splinters 2007
Jerry Lee Lewis and Orion - Hello Josephine mp3 at Music Pop Hits 1961 (over dubbed in the 70s)
Jerry Lee Lewis mp3 - Roll Over Beethoven (Live) mp3 at AM Then FM
Jerry Lee Lewis - What's Made Milwaukee Famous (Live) mp3 at AM Then FM
Visit:
Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban

SIR LORD, COUNT, KING, AND WHO?

Change of gears here. I ran into a Sir Lord Comic cut and had to point you to it. He was an early reggae DJ, back when there were very few, Count Machuki and King Stitt among them. Sir Lord, Count and King. That's a lot of royalty floating around in those names. Then U Roy waltzes in, and ruins the whole regal name streak (though he did record for Duke Reid). Where was I? Oh yeah, Sir Lord Comic. His stuff doesn't pop up online very often, so that's why he's down there. The rest are just a cross section of DJ stuff, reggae DJ stuff (if you don't know the difference here's a wiki thing). Some of it's been here before, but there are a couple other goodies I hadn't seen before, a Big Youth live cut from '74, and a very early U Roy, with the Tommy McCook and the Supersonics (gloriously scratched I might add). 

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Listen:
Sir Lord Comic - The Great Wuga Wuga mp3 at Dinosaur Gardens
Count Machuki - Pepper Pot mp3 at Planet Mondo
King Stitt & the Wailing Souls - Whitebread mp3 at Constant Pressure
U Roy - Flashing My Whip mp3 (via DivShare) at Black Gold with Tommy McCook!
U Roy - Runaway Girl mp3 at Tous les jours la grande chose
Scotty - Draw Your Breaks mp3 at La Grand Chose
Dillinger - Cocaine mp3 at Giant Panther
Big Youth - Cool Breeze mp3 at Le Blog de la Grande Chose
Big Youth - Santa Massa Gone Ya (Live) mp3 at Earmilk 
Dennis Alcapone - Cassius Clay mp3 at Reggae Top Site 

THEY ARE A MACHINE

Back when I was just a kid, my family went over to my Grandma's house to welcome home my uncle, who was in his early twenties and in the military. He had just returned from a stint in Okinawa, Japan. While all the requisite back patting and hand shaking was going on, me and my brothers stared at the end of the living room with our jaws agape. There before us was a monstrous component stereo, the likes of which we had never seen. To pre-teen kids with just limited exposure to a beat ass AM clock radio, it might as well have been a wall of Marshall stacks. It was behemoth. My uncle noticed our preoccupation and asked us if we wanted to hear it. He then put on a record and turned it up. Ba boom boom. ba doom!!! It was the Ventures' cover of the theme from Hawaii Five-O. We were floored. I was 11, and the Ventures were on my radar. They've been there ever since.

It wasn't long after that that our friends around the corner had procured the Ventures' Surfing LP at a  garage sale. It began our surf music obsession, that has lasted, shit, it's still ongoing. In the ensuing years we started picking up this surf LP or that, leading us to the Chantays, the Surfaris, the Lively Ones, the Challengers, and all the others that were, at the time, all over the thrift stores. We went further back as well, with Duane Eddy, who was also a favorite of my uncle's. My brother would later start a surf band. All of this from hearing the Ventures on a giant stereo.

Just watch the video below. Even with a hit on the charts, they can't catch a break. I mean to say, the girls in the audience aren't exactly going ape shit. They look confused, like they're thinking "what is this?" (Starting at 1:40, four quizzical gals in a row.)

It's easy to take the Ventures for granted. It seems like they've always been around. Most of their output has been covers. Their records are accessible. Their output was so prolific that, at one time, used copies of their LPs were falling from the sky. But, you gotta cop to them, they are one tight instrumental machine. Technically, I know they must be hot shit, because all of the Mosrite nazis I know respect them (and if you know Mosrite nuts, they're usually excellent guitarists themselves). You? You may have heard all of the Ventures that you care to. To me they're an instrumental safe harbor, and although there are wilder instrumental combos out there, I have to tip my cap. Motherfuckers are still touring too.

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

Listen:
The Ventures - Walk Don't Run mp3 at Sampablo's Cleaning (?)
The Ventures - Hawaii Five O mp3 at LZ Center
The Ventures - Pipeline mp3 at VVA 310
The Ventures - Endless Summer Theme mp3 at Us Hawaiians
The OG:
Chet Atkins - Walk Don't Run (streaming) at YouTube
Covers of a cover: 
The Trashmen - Walk Don't Run mp3 at Tiny Vices
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass - Walk Don't Run mp3 at Review Stalker
Visit:
The Ventures at Wikipedia
The Ventures Official site
The Ventures Discography

PEANUT, EH? YEAH, SURE.

You know how to tell that your taste has changed? I opened a recent freebie magazine and saw an ad for local venue, and among the upcoming events were shows by the Damned, and Thee Midniters. Now, I've never been all that into the Damned, and I'm sure that's the result of two things. One is that when they first started making noise in the states, the Sex Pistols and the Clash were the other two big UK punk bands. It was a wait and see thing, undoubtedly propelled by thing number two: Dave Vanian's fucking make up routine. I remember thinking it was a bit Alice Cooperish for punk rock, and really kind of out of place. Of course, I later came to like a few of their songs, but I still don't own any of their records. 

I don't own any records by Thee Midniters either, but seeing that they were coming got me me more worked up then the Damned coming (what year is it anyway?). If you're not familiar with Thee Midniters, don't let the double "e" in their name fool you. They're not some garage band. Wait, I guess they sorta are, but in a different vein. They were big in the sixties East L.A. scene. Pretty much thee band. In their scene they were the equivalent of the Sex Pistols or the Clash, not the Damned. (Well, that was one roundabout tweak.) "Whittier Blvd" was their biggee, but you have to listen to "I Found A Peanut". The smack begins to flow at :36.

Writing that last phrase made me think of the Velvet's "Heroin", so I just chased "I Found A Peanut" with "Heroin", and who knew? They sound completely different, but the feel is remotely the same. Listening to them back to back made me feel more wasted than I've been in a very long time. This is all nighter music.

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

Listen:
Thee Midniters - Whittier Blvd mp3 at DRB's Blog
Thee Midniters - I Found A Peanut mp3 at Api.ning.com
Thee Midniters - Jump, Jive & Harmonize mp3 at Raven Sings the Blues
The Velvet Underground - Heroin mp3 at Music or Space Shuttle