COOL UNRELATED PHOTO OF THE DAY

Here's enough. A cool photo by Charles "Teenie" Harris and a cool song by Lloyd Nolen. I couldn't find a photo of Nolen, but Harris's photo popped up in the search and it's a hell of a lot cooler than some old 45 label. The image above has been cropped, but you can see the original at the National Museum of African American History and Culture site, accompanying the article "Traveling Through Jim Crow America", As for Nolen, his "Fun Fun" has been here before, but it hit the spot tonight and that's enough. You will notice a similarity to the Sonics' "The Witch", but you forget about that by the time it gets to the sax solo in the middle of the song. At one point it sounds like it short circuits. Squawk baby, squawk.

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Listen:
Lloyd Nolen - Fun Fun mp3 at Diddy Wah
Visit:
Traveling Through Jim Crow America at National Museum of African American History and Culture

PROTO-NORMCORE SWEATER ROCK

I don't remember exactly when or where I first heard these songs. Two are affiliated with films, but I've only seen one of them and that was after I already knew the song. The only place I can think of that I might have heard them would be on an oldies radio station. That was one of the good things about oldies stations. Because of the format, they'd be playing oldies 24 /7, so there would have to be some somewhat deeper cuts, songs that weren't massive hits but still had chart showings, though if you blinked you probably would have missed them. I do know that I started really liking them at roughly the same time. They were regular spins at a studio apartment I lived in for four years, at a time sandwiched between short residences in San Francisco and New York. It was a great granny flat behind a nice couple that were rarely home, with a pool and jacuzzi right out my front door. Don't get me started about that place. It was awesome. Anyway, downers though these songs are, all three are excellent. (I generally hate Johnny Rivers but "Poor Side of Town" is too good to ignore.)  They're well written, nicely produced bummers. I do emo differently.

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Listen:
Gene Pitney - Town Without Pity mp3 at Fimoculous #32. 1962
Johnny Rivers - Poor Side of Town mp3 at Smokeys Trail #1, 1966
Glenn Yarbrough - Baby, The Rain Must Fall (streaming) at YouTube #12, 1965

TO LONGEVITY

What started out as just a quick listen to a couple covers by Stevie Wonder ended up being a Stevie Wonder Appreciation Night listening party for one. For a few hours last night, it was all over the place, there's just so much good stuff spread out over decades. I'm not going to sit here and say that he didn't put out his share of dogs, but dogs to me because they're overly sappy. Not a huge crime, just not my bag. But you really do have to look at his career as a whole to realize that he's an all timer. Shit, he's shared the stage with the Stones and Dick Dale. You'd be hard pressed to find someone else who did that. He had a mess of hits while still in his teens. And when his original contract with Motown was over, he negotiated to get more control and his music became his own. He no longer had the hit machine type Motown sound. His records got better, uniquely Stevie Wonder (see "Superstition").

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Listen:
Stevie Wonder - We Can Work It Out mp3 at Foo Surfer 3 (?)
Stevie Wonder - Light My Fire mp3 at The Frump
Stevie Wonder - Signed, Sealed and Delivered mp3 at Keilwerth (?)
Stevie Wonder - Higher Ground (live) mp3 at Troubled Souls Unite 1974 Long intro, song starts at about 2:26
Stevie Wonder - Superstition (live) mp3 at Troubled Souls Unite 1974

A NICE BREATHER

Someone posted this on Facebook and I about peed my pants. Then I went looking. I came to find that it's nearly impossible to find anywhere but Facebook. It might be because it is easily searchable under the original title and was being taken down all the time. Who knows? I looked elsewhere, used different search terms and eventually found it. That's the good news. The bad news for those lacking in a sense of humor is that it is not a vintage live performance. It is a piss take, a shred video. It's silly and it's just what I need. Watch the first thirty seconds. If you don't at least chuckle, I don't know you.

APPLES AND ORANGES

Still trying to wrap my head around this one. I like Ricky Nelson's early work. I like Mississippi Fred McDowell's stuff as well. They both covered Little Walter's classic "My Babe" (which is what led to that video I posted yesterday). Both did bang up jobs, neither sounding like Walter's original. Nelson delivers with his usual restrained style. If you're into Ricky Nelson, you know that the guy never really cut loose, which is fine. He had James Burton backing him, so he had that going for him. Plus it was a good choice for a cover, a relatively deep cut for the time in which he recorded it (the late fifties). But, oh man, McDowell's version is so raw it almost makes Little Walter sound like Sinatra, never mind what it does to Nelson's version.

Now, right about here is what made me just call it a night and just post that video last night. Walter and McDowell were contemporaries, and unlike Nelson both were blues artists. I associate Little Walter with Chicago blues, city blues, because he was on Chess Records. Okay, so he was city blues. McDowell is country blues. There's a big difference. I've never really read up on either Little Walter or Mississippi Fred McDowell, but being reasonably sure Walter was from Chicago, one question remained. Where was Mississippi Fred McDowell from? No online search, no Wiki; I know this one. Wait, wait, why do I think I know this one? Shit, it'll come to me. I was racking my brain. Where was Mississippi Fred McDowell from? Can you see why I walked?

So, guess what? He did play music in Mississippi, but he was born in Tennessee and he died in Tennessee. Now on to the next big question. Who the hell cares about where Mississippi Fred McDowell is from?

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Listen:
Ricky Nelson - My Babe mp3 at Diddy Wah
Mississippi Fred McDowell - My Babe mp3 at Frederator Blogs
Little Walter - My Babe (streaming) at YouTube

STOPPING AT THIS ONE

There it is. Hound Dog Taylor, Little Walter and Koko Taylor on the same stage. Hell yeah, that shit will work. Put it on repeat and zone out to it. After that you won't feel like doing a proper blog post either. I'm here to tell you, I have a thousand excuses and behind that are a thousand more. And, I might add, nobody's paying me. I have every right to be lazy.

THAT "I KNOW I'M THE SHIT" LOOK

In the five years that I've known who James Black was and five years of sporadically hearing stuff he's played on, it is now well ingrained. He was one hot shit drummer. There's no doubting that. Ginger Baker hot. Earl Palmer. Tony Allen. Funky when it's called for, swinging on jazz stuff, breaks up the ass. That said, he's played on his share of dogs. Some so mediocre that his drumming is out of place once you start listening to it. He's too good. I kind of like that juxtaposition. Say there's five other musicians on the record. Four of them could suck. But if one member is James Black, the record will never suck 100%.

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Listen:
Eddie Bo - Hook and Sling mp3 at Drummer World
Inell Young - The Next Ball Game mp3 at Drummer World The drums on this rule.
Roy Ward - Horse With a Freeze mp3 at Soul Garage 1968 
Sonny Jones - Sissy Walk mp3 at Soul Garage 1971
Mary Jane Hooper - I've Got What You Need (streaming) at YouTube 1969
Eddie Bo and the Soul Finders - We're Doin' It (streaming) at YouTube  1969
The Explosions - Hip Drop (streaming) at YouTube 1971
This is good: James Black - Guardian of the Groove - Audio documentary at YouTube
Note: This is part one. At YouTube, check the right column for the rest.
Visit: James Black bio and discography at Drummer World

IS THIS THE LINE? OH. YOU'RE THE BAND?

I ran across a misfiled Shaolin Afronauts CD the other day, and after listening to it in the car I thought I'd look for something of theirs to post. It was a long shot, I didn't expect to find much, and I expected right. Squat. But I saw a few by some outfit called Shaolin Temple Defenders. Fucking ridiculous name. Of course I took the bait. It ended up being some pretty good shit. Good solid funky soul. Here's all I've gleamed about the band: They're white, one woman and the rest men. They might have been inspired by Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings and least that's what it seems to say in their bio. Then again, the bio reads like a poor translation so I may have misinterpreted what they were saying. Regardless, the few that I ran into were solid; completely derivative, but solidly so. They kinda remind me of The Commitments.

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Listen:

Shaolin Temple Defenders - Growing Up Master mp3 at Shaolin Temple Defenders
Shaolin Temple Defenders - International Soul mp3 at Shaolin Temple Defenders
Shaolin Temple Defenders - Funky Chick mp3 at Shaolin Temple Defenders
Shaolin Temple Defenders - Temple of Soul mp3 at Bama Love Soul
Visit:
Shaolin Temple Defenders Official site

BOSS SONG ALERT

This a most awesome song. Something about it, the whole feel, all kinda dark and smoky. Dig it: The song has been sitting there at Office Naps for eight years, on a post with two other songs, by Marv Johnson and Bobby King, every bit as good. He's got the story behind all three as well, so you should really just go there.

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Listen:
Charles Sheffield - It's Your Voodoo Working mp3 at Office Naps
Two other early 60s obscuros at Office Naps Good reading too.

CRUSHES BONES, SPLITS SKULLS, BLASTS BRAINS

Was anybody going to tell me that there's a new bio-flick about Rudy Ray Moore? I just checked Funky 16 Corners and Larry over there re-posted a mix, on the occasion of the movies release. Funky16Corners Meets Dolemite! with all sorts of Grade-A soul and funk and sound bites from Dolemite. After listening to a good chunk of it, I decided to check for a trailer for the movie. Holy shit, Eddie Murphy's is in it, as Moore aka Dolemite.Wesley Snipes and Keegan-Michael Key are in it too. Check the trailers for the the film, Dolemite is My Name, at the link below, but first dig the OG:

I was able to find a few things, some oddballs. Blast 'em in your cubicle, totally fuckin' safe for work.

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Listen:
Rudy Ray Moore - Human Tornado mp3 at Big Money Hustlas 
Rudy Ray Moore - The Sensuous Black Woman mp3 at Tumblr
Rudy Ray Moore - The Sensuous Black Woman Pt 2 mp3 at Tumblr
Dolemite Radio Promo mp3 at Probe is Turning-On the People
The movie:
Dolemite Is My Name at Netflix Four trailers and a few other shorts

BUT DOES SHE HAVE LONG BLACK-A HAIR?

This song is so entirely baddass it deserves a post all by itself. Fucking Kip Tyler. Bringing the menace of Link Wray, the pace of "Rumble", with no distortion to lean on. Rather a Duane Eddy-like opening riff, tough sounding though it is. The vocal is restrained, practically spoken, like a stoned Ricky Nelson. Too sombre to put out the effort. On top of everything else, a filthy sax solo followed by a fully qualified scream. The dial turns right. Don't be soft.

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Listen:
Kip Tyler - She's My Witch mp3 at Hey Cool Kid

IN HER MEDIUM LENGTH BLACK-A HAIR PHASE

I know, I know, you're up to your eyeballs with Halloween type music. Well pull an eyeball out and make room for more, because this particular holiday is not only an excuse to raid thematic standbys, they're also an excuse to force the Sonics on you. You got it, "The Witch", with absolutely no shame. "Psycho" is down there too. Not quite a Halloween song, but close enough. Dig the screams.

What the hell, I've given up trying to find mp3s of the Creepy Creeps, so a video of them doing a cover of "The Witch" will have to suffice. You will note that the singing Creep pays proper respect by preserving Gerry Roslie's diction, as in "she's got long black-a hair". True to cool.

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Listen:
The Sonics - The Witch mp3 at Tinyvices
The Sonics - Psycho mp3 at The Adios Lounge
Video:
The Creepy Creeps - The Witch (live) at YouTube

STAY GOLDEN PONY BOY

I'm not all that into the Black Lips, not enough to know anything about them other than they're from Georgia, use guitars well and don't seem to take themselves very seriousy. I don't even know if they're still together. I don't care. This is listening at its lamest. I've never pulled apart a single song or read a bio. I just click on their stuff when I see it and go about my day. That all said, random sampling over the last ten years or so have shown a trend of not sucking and, more to the point, caring only a fraction of a fuck, if that.

Here's a couple songs I ran into from an old post of someone's Best of 2007 list. A ten year old post still spreading the love. The video clip is of a couple of them being interviewed by a local TV station a few weeks ago here in San Diego. There's only a couple of them and they seem a little too goofy for that early in the morning. They may very well be drunk. The interviewer doesn't seem all that flustered or pissed. She could even be thinking "If these were the Rolling Stones I'd put up with it" because she doesn't know who the fuck the Black Lips are. For all she knows they could be as big as the Stones.

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Listen:
The Black Lips - Hippy Hippy Hurrah mp3 at Central Village
The Black Lips - O Katrina mp3 at Central Village
Video:
The Black Lips on Good Morning San Diego at KUSI

THIS COVER PAYED DIVIDENDS

I just ran into U Roy's "Runaway Girl". It was the first song on the first U Roy album I ever bought, Dread In A Babylon. The very first time I'd ever heard U Roy. I was about twenty years old and was sucked in by the photo on the cover. Excellent marketing. That was decades ago and it's been a favorite ever since. I've posted it before, but the old link is dead, so there's not an ounce of lazy guilt in this corner. The other song below, "Chalice In the Palace" is the second song on the Dread album. It's about smoking out with the Queen (chalice = bong). Yeah, baby.

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Listen:
U Roy - Runaway Girl mp3 at Pixieradio
U Roy - Chalice In the Palace mp3 at Pixieradio

WHAT THE HELL WOULD THIS SMELL LIKE?

I just ran into Sun Ra branded perfume at Norton Records. Ostensibly a promotional tool for a Sun Ra book, I can think of several uses regardless of what it smells like. You could put on your knick knack shelf and just wait until someone notices how cool you are. Or you could put it in the medicine cabinet so everybody thinks you have a girlfriend that has excellent taste in wacked out interplanetary jazz. Or you could use it as a litmus test. Just leave it laying around when you're just starting to date someone. If they see it and ask who Sun Ra is, BAHHHHHH! [game show wrong answer buzzer], save yourself the agony of grooming their musical tastes.  If, on the other hand, they get excited when they see it, jackpot! Get down on one knee, take their hand, look them in the eye and ask them, with all the sincerity that the occasion demands, "Do you have a mint copy of 'Rocket Number Nine'?"

Programing note: I have a friend visiting from out of town, so I may not be updating for a couple days. But, heck, there's 2,970 posts here. Dig around. You may find something you haven't heard before.

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Listen:
Sun Ra - Seen III Took 4 mp3 at Rising Storm 1970 Sun Ra discovers the synthesizer
Sun Ra - Music From the World Tomorrow mp3 at Rock Town Hall 1956
Sun Ra - Angels and Devils at Play mp3 at Rock Town Hall 1956
Sun Ra - There Are Other Worlds (They Have Not Told You Of) mp3 at Melting Pot
Sun Ra - Rocket Number Nine (streaming) at YouTube Six minute version

IS POST-CUMBIA A THING?

It happens from time to time. When I get bored with music I'm familiar with, I get the hell away from my record collection and nose dive into something I know nothing about. It's usually some sort of international music. Today I went cumbia crazy. Actually started last night. The thing that gets me, as little as I know about it, and in terms of what I've heard (basically other peoples mixes), cumbia's been hot shit a long, long time.

Here's three mixes. Two are downloads, one is streaming. A nice good binge, think of it as a reset button sort of thing.

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Listen:
Cumbia Costeña by DJ Slim Jenkins at Musica Del Alma 15 song mix, go there for the song list.
¡Guepa Caramba! by Alex LaRotta (streaming) at Nerdtorious 17 song mix
Cumbia 78 RPM Mix - Quantic mix mp3 at Paris DJs 28 minute mix, single mp3, awesome

NEVER TOO SOON TO PLAN A PARTY

I don't think that a title has ever grabbed me quite as quickly. I mean, I perked up, noticeably, the instant I read three words. The funny thing is, I'd heard the song before but forgot about it completely. I think it was from an old issue of Waxpoetics, it had to be at least five or ten years ago. Something about how it's been sampled a zillion times, and it has. Listen to it. You may have heard some of the elements, the drums in particular. Just a short list of people who've sampled it includes Eric B & Rakim, N.W.A., Tupac, Wu-Tang Clan, Ice Cube, L.L.Cool J, De La Soul, Nas, and Biggee. And that's just in hip hop. There were plenty of others that dipped. Prince, George Benson, Amy Winehouse, and Stevie Wonder, to name a few. Reason enough to listen to it.

Another reason to listen to it is that, although written in the Nixon era, there aren't any references to Nixon by name. Here we have a song that truly is relevant a second time. Oh, and it's good song, regardless of lyrics, it nice and funky. But you'll want to sing along. You'd better.

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Listen:
The Honey Drippers - Impeach the President (streaming) at YouTube
Visit:
Impeach the President (song entry) at Wikipedia
Impeach the President at Who Sampled Clips of songs that sampled it.

SQUEEZE IN THERE GUYS. CLOSER. CLOSER...

Okay, I ran across this surf mix. The first song is Dick Dale's "Let's Go Trippin'" and I've heard that one a million times, so I skipped ahead, right to the end of the song, then heard the beginning of the second song, "Surf Rider" by the Lively Ones.  It was good to hear again. In just the first few bars, I thought about how their Surf City LP used to be in just about every thrift store in town, and they were always kind of a second tier surf band. You didn't go looking for their records, you just kept running into them for practically nothing. You had to buy. But they never really got a lot of attention, not until they appeared in the soundtrack of Pulp Fiction. They've probably got more attention from that then they had during their entire recording career.

So, that's what I thought after hearing just a few bars of "Surf Rider". I can't go through a fifty song mix worth of commentary in this mood, so I'm cutting out. But dig the mix. There's a lot of classics, the Belairs, the Astronauts, Eddie and the Showmen, the Sentinals, the Pyramids and a bunch that you probably don't know. "Mr. Moto" is there. "Baja", "Penetration". Beats what you got.

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Listen:
The Lively Ones - Surf Rider mp3 at The California Girls
Mix:
Surfin' Hangover - 50 song mix mp3 at Internet Archive
Surfin' Hangover - Song list and streaming mix

RISE OF THE TURTLENECKED STONERS

I don't know, am I supposed to hate this? It seems like the sort of music that some chump with sideburns and a sports car would play in a tender moment with his would be lady. The sort of guy who thought he was counterculture because he read, actually read, Playboy. A Mort Sahl man.

Now would be a good time to remind you that Lysergic Funk is a bad ass place to find oddball funk, soul and shit like this. There really is a lot of good stuff over there. I just picked this one because it's almost comical in its laidbackness, both in song selection and execution.

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Listen:
Gabor Szabo - Stormy mp3 at Internet Archive
Gabor Szabo - Stormy (streaming) at Lysergic Funk

DEFERRING TO DEBBIE D.

You never know what you'll find digging through old posts. Wander and you will occasionally hit pay-dirt. Sometimes it will be click after click. Sometimes it will be the first random click of the day, and that's what happened here. Just a chance click on a post from 2010 (!) at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban found a great mix by the always reliable Debbie D. She's not even posting there or at Beware of the Blog anymore, but I knew from years past that, with her name attached to it, there's going to be some good shit. (How can you go wrong knowing that her favorite band is the Oblivians?)

So this mix was ostensibly for New Years Eve, but being that there is no running holiday theme the intent was likely to free up the hosts so they could guzzle more champagne. So, yeah, good for year round listening, a great mix, varied in styles and eras. You get the familiar (Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddley, Aretha, the Shangri-las) and the insanely obscure (Parting Gifts, Los Sirex, the Unrelated Segments) in all sorts of styles (first album era Modern Lovers and Charlie Rich in the same mix!). Twenty seven cuts and a few sound bites in a post that you never would have run across, put together by a woman with excellent taste. I sure do miss Debbie D.

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Listen:
Midnight Blues -  27 song mix at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban Individual mp3s in a zip.