.
Thanks to the gang at Mad City Music X and St. Vincent De Paul on Williamson Street. Again, a combination of obscure singles, and the better known and a few surprises as well.
1) Could I-Bread (Elektra EK-45668) 1969
The only time James Griffin and Robb Royer got the plug side and it didn't sell. It might have bubbled under the top 100 but Slade covered it later on. However, this song is overlooked in the anthologies that have come out and I knew nothing about this song till I saw the 45. B side You Can't Measure The Cost, owes something to the Moody Blues, it's a bit more experimental coming from David Gates, but then again he did produce recordings for Captain Beefheart, tho this song isn't as extreme as you would think. Since Could I failed to chart, it was decided that Gates's songs would become the a side. The next song would be Make It With You.
2) Lonely Days-Bee Gees (Atco 45-6795) #3 1970
The humble beginnings of the Bee Gees was scattershot. They focused mostly on ballads, and a lot of boring bullshit on their albums, and they were still muzak than disco but however, Lonely Days is one of my favorite songs from this part of history. Their best of's were overloaded on ballad and crappy ones such as Man For All Seasons, the B side is. They would continue to stumble about till Mr. Natural came out five years later, and then Main Course, and then....disco.
3) Po Folks-The Righteous Brothers (Verve VK-10649) 1970
The new Righteous Brothers, Jimmy Walker taking over for Bill Medley. The album Re Birth and the two singles released, (this was the second) didn't chart and Walker departed. Walker did enjoy a modest living playing out in Vegas, but Jimmy passed away on July 17 this year. Po Folks tends to be more of a country song than pop rock but it does work. B side Good N Nuff, is a passable Bobby Hatfield song. Hatfield passed away from Cocaine induced heart attack in 2003. Bill Medley replaced him with Bucky Heard, the only guy that could replaced Hatfield.
4) It's Only Love-Tommy James & The Shondells (Roulette R-4710) #31 1966
In trying to find Mony Mony in the cheap bins I ended up getting other Tommy James singles but not the real song itself. This song has special memories, it was one of the 45s that Grandma got me at the Lincoln ILL, Woolworth's store. My copy seen better days, so I found a better replacement copy. Henry Glover produced this instead of the Bo Gentry/Richie Cordell team. It's fun to hear Tommy bring out the woodblocks and shakers leading into the chorus. B side, Mike Vale takes on Ya Ya. Lee Dorsey didn't lose sleep over that.
5) Down In the Cold-Ten Wheel Drive/Genya Ravan (Polydor PD 2-14052) 1971
Led by Genya Ravan, 10 Wheel Drive a horn driven band lead by Michael Zager. Morning Much Better hit number 74. I had their best of CD but it's a mess and all over the place. Down In The Cold owes something akin to Cold Blood, and I can tolerate this one. B side Last Of The Line not so much. Ravan would go solo, Ten Wheel Drive stumbled on with another album on Capitol and Zager went disco with Let's All Chant a few years later.
6) We're All In This Together-Cat (RCA 74-0331) 1970
The second single from their only album issued in the US, and I bought that record for 44 cents at Kresge years ago. RCA opted to go with Solo Flight as the plug but since it didn't chart, I decided to tout the better side. It's a edited from its 4:27 album time but you're not missing all that much, just the extension to the final coda chorus. A should have been hit me thinks, but anyway, this single was at the Mad City Music X for over two years before they got tired of seeing it an threw it in the quarter bin. Somehow I knew I would be taking it home eventually.
7) The Pushbike Song-The Great American Disaster (United Artists UA-50758) 1971
The Mixtures had the hit with this song but around the same time, The Great American Disaster issued this as a UA promo. The Mixtures number 44 showing on the US chart is the most known, tho Mongo Jerry did a version of this too. Nothing is known about the GAD. This was their only single released.
8) Keep The One You Got-Joe Tex (Dial 45-4083) #52 1968
It's a shame that most of my Joe Tex singles got played to death and weren't taken care of. I don't come across many of Joe's 45s but this one mirrors Hold On To What You Got. B side Go Home To Do It is fun Joe Tex soul jive, which he would perfect later on with I Gotcha.
9) Presidential Rag-Arlo Guthrie (Reprise REP-1211) 1974
The record buying public gave up on Arlo after City Of New Orleans but he wrote this one after Nixon stepped down. This song sounds perfect for these times since we have a joke in the White House. B side Nostalgia Rag somehow snails on by.
10) I'm Into Something Good-Herman's Hermits (MGM K-13280) #13 1964
The first top 20 hit from the much maligned Hermits, which this and followup Heartbeat gave us the term UK bubble gum. The Hermits, much like the lesser known Gerry and the Pacemakers, Billy J Kramer and The Dakotas and Freddie And The Dreamers were considered the ones riding on the coattails of The Beatles, The Stones and Dave Clark Five. If you can excuse them for the crappy Mrs Brown You Got A Lovely Daughter or I'm Henry The 8th That I Am, they were a passable enjoyment of British pop, why everybody loved Peter Noone. Unlike the Stones covering the blues, The Beatles covering Motown, The Hermits leaned toward pop and r and b, from this Mar Jean covers and of course, a speedy run through on Sam Cooke's Wonderful World and The Rays, Silhouettes, and even the Kinks' Dandy, tho Noone's holding his nose voice got annoying. Perhaps there might be a best of Hermits I can listen though without a stylus needle scratch on their number 1 hits. For the also ran of the British Invasion, Gerry And The Pacemakers might be the best musicians, tho their song selection could be laughable. The aw shucks persona of Noone was what gave the Hermits their charm but usually Derek Lecknerby or Harvey Listberg (their Manager) would write the B sides. To which Your Hand In Mine is B side garbage.
Wednesday, July 29, 2020
Tuesday, July 28, 2020
Madison Singles Part 2-If You Haven't Heard It, It's New To You
So we can catch our breath. Here's the next ten songs on forty five.
1) She's Not There-The Road (Kama Sutra KA-256) 1968
One of the more sought after 45s is this cover of the Zombies' classic. But for many many years The Road's version was the one I was most familiar with. Somebody was listening to The Vanilla Fudge judging by the arrangement and over the top ending that owes more to You Keep Me Hanging On than The Zombies. My copy was shot, so I decided to get this replacement which is a half step ahead of mine, less craters and scratches, but could use a nice clean itself. B side A Bummer is lots of fun, a two note riff till the middle break to which somebody is yawning in the background. Priceless.
2) Goodbye 50's Hello 60's-Quaker City Boys (Swan S4045) 1959
Well hell, what's this. Some of that ragtime pop that did go out of style at the stroke of midnight in 1960. The so called marching sound of Philadelphia they said. B side You Call Everybody Darlin' is Fats Domino meeting Cliff Steward and the San Francisco Boys in Philadelphia. An acquired taste for sure.
3) Living Doll-Cliff Richard (ABC Paramount 45-10042) #30 1959
With the Drifters from the UK, but when George Tredwell threw a tizzy, they changed their name to The Shadows Cliff could have been the UK answer to Ricky Nelson, in this song. Hank Marvin is the UK's answer to James Burton at this time period B side Apron Strings is more fun. Try to find the 45 with The Drifters's name on it. It's worth a bit more.
4) Be Bop Baby-Ricky Nelson (Imperial 5463) #4 1957
B side Have I Told You Lately That I Love You made it to number 29. Imagine that, the followup we have Ricky Nelson and James Burton to compare notes. Only here in Record World you get such wonders such as me and my half crocked comments. Ricky Nelson, like Bobby Darin and Brenda Lee seem to have their music in these singles going steady anthology. I think I'm more used to the smooth out stereo version than the mono 45 mix which is up close and personal. Of late, Rick's later stuff have appeared here, not that the Imperial sides are hard to find but most that I do find are chewed up. I didn't buy this one, when the BIG SALE was going on at St Vinnie's in June but it was still here, I could tell by its former owner still has his name on a tape. Those things are a bitch to remove so I guess it will have to stay on. The B side is bit too poppy for regular plays.
5) Rusty Bells-Brenda Lee (Decca 31849) #33 1965
Come in Brenda Lee with this mellow weeper. The original intent was to find Is It True but Mad City Music X had about 12 other Brenda Lee songs, but I didn't find it in the quarter bins. When I see about the songs that Lee placed on the charts I am shocked how oldies radio rarely plays her music. B side If You Don't she reveals her inner Dusty Springfield.
6) Doodle Doo Doo-World's Greatest Jazz Band (Atlantic Jazz 45-5108) 1971
Dixieland jazz from Yank Lawson and Bob Haggard. Jazz records were not exactly selling big time in the 70s, certainly not jazz so any one that I find, I usually buy with a sense of wonderment. Root Dog, combines more of a swing jazz to the New Orleans beat. Kinda of a update in sound but also looking back at the past.
7) Would You Ever-Dorothy Collins (Coral 9-61753) 1956
Pop chanteuse with Dick Jacobs arranging the number in accordance of the 1950s pop sound. B side Baby Can Rock is gag gag gag me with a spoon. Is it rock? Hell no. It's a Minute forty eight of Ha ha ha haaa baby can rock.
8) Would You Mind-Hank Snow (RCA 47-6057) 1955
The other side Yellow Roses made number 3 on the country charts but Hank's glory years were in the late 40s and early 50s, just like labelmate Eddy Arnold. Andy Williams did cover Would You Mind, one of the more uptempo hillbilly country songs from Snow. Would You Mind does Hank Williams proud, as well as Bob Wills, (all them fiddles)
9) I Do-The Marvelows (ABC Paramount 45-10629) #37 1965
A soul song so obscure I knew nothing about it till J Geils Band covered it in 1977 and scored a 1981 live version of said song. Collectors around the world are always looking for their singles, to which they recorded for ABC for four years. The B side My Heart is a sadly outdated cha cha number, tho I dig the baritone bass singer.
10) Open Up Your Heart-Roy Agee (Shirley 123631) 1963
A reissue of SH 106, when Atlantic distributed this, I remember the record from the first batch of boxed records you can get at the thrift stores in the 60s, mostly Atlantic stuff and probably the best of the batch. Echoes of Bobby Blue Bland on Open Up Your Heart including the crooning and moans, with Ray Badger's over the top horns making this a better song than I remembered. First time I heard this 50 years ago, I wasn't impressed but now, it has grown on me to the point that I needed to find a new copy. Out of the three museum forty fives, this one plays the best.
1) She's Not There-The Road (Kama Sutra KA-256) 1968
One of the more sought after 45s is this cover of the Zombies' classic. But for many many years The Road's version was the one I was most familiar with. Somebody was listening to The Vanilla Fudge judging by the arrangement and over the top ending that owes more to You Keep Me Hanging On than The Zombies. My copy was shot, so I decided to get this replacement which is a half step ahead of mine, less craters and scratches, but could use a nice clean itself. B side A Bummer is lots of fun, a two note riff till the middle break to which somebody is yawning in the background. Priceless.
2) Goodbye 50's Hello 60's-Quaker City Boys (Swan S4045) 1959
Well hell, what's this. Some of that ragtime pop that did go out of style at the stroke of midnight in 1960. The so called marching sound of Philadelphia they said. B side You Call Everybody Darlin' is Fats Domino meeting Cliff Steward and the San Francisco Boys in Philadelphia. An acquired taste for sure.
3) Living Doll-Cliff Richard (ABC Paramount 45-10042) #30 1959
With the Drifters from the UK, but when George Tredwell threw a tizzy, they changed their name to The Shadows Cliff could have been the UK answer to Ricky Nelson, in this song. Hank Marvin is the UK's answer to James Burton at this time period B side Apron Strings is more fun. Try to find the 45 with The Drifters's name on it. It's worth a bit more.
4) Be Bop Baby-Ricky Nelson (Imperial 5463) #4 1957
B side Have I Told You Lately That I Love You made it to number 29. Imagine that, the followup we have Ricky Nelson and James Burton to compare notes. Only here in Record World you get such wonders such as me and my half crocked comments. Ricky Nelson, like Bobby Darin and Brenda Lee seem to have their music in these singles going steady anthology. I think I'm more used to the smooth out stereo version than the mono 45 mix which is up close and personal. Of late, Rick's later stuff have appeared here, not that the Imperial sides are hard to find but most that I do find are chewed up. I didn't buy this one, when the BIG SALE was going on at St Vinnie's in June but it was still here, I could tell by its former owner still has his name on a tape. Those things are a bitch to remove so I guess it will have to stay on. The B side is bit too poppy for regular plays.
5) Rusty Bells-Brenda Lee (Decca 31849) #33 1965
Come in Brenda Lee with this mellow weeper. The original intent was to find Is It True but Mad City Music X had about 12 other Brenda Lee songs, but I didn't find it in the quarter bins. When I see about the songs that Lee placed on the charts I am shocked how oldies radio rarely plays her music. B side If You Don't she reveals her inner Dusty Springfield.
6) Doodle Doo Doo-World's Greatest Jazz Band (Atlantic Jazz 45-5108) 1971
Dixieland jazz from Yank Lawson and Bob Haggard. Jazz records were not exactly selling big time in the 70s, certainly not jazz so any one that I find, I usually buy with a sense of wonderment. Root Dog, combines more of a swing jazz to the New Orleans beat. Kinda of a update in sound but also looking back at the past.
7) Would You Ever-Dorothy Collins (Coral 9-61753) 1956
Pop chanteuse with Dick Jacobs arranging the number in accordance of the 1950s pop sound. B side Baby Can Rock is gag gag gag me with a spoon. Is it rock? Hell no. It's a Minute forty eight of Ha ha ha haaa baby can rock.
8) Would You Mind-Hank Snow (RCA 47-6057) 1955
The other side Yellow Roses made number 3 on the country charts but Hank's glory years were in the late 40s and early 50s, just like labelmate Eddy Arnold. Andy Williams did cover Would You Mind, one of the more uptempo hillbilly country songs from Snow. Would You Mind does Hank Williams proud, as well as Bob Wills, (all them fiddles)
9) I Do-The Marvelows (ABC Paramount 45-10629) #37 1965
A soul song so obscure I knew nothing about it till J Geils Band covered it in 1977 and scored a 1981 live version of said song. Collectors around the world are always looking for their singles, to which they recorded for ABC for four years. The B side My Heart is a sadly outdated cha cha number, tho I dig the baritone bass singer.
10) Open Up Your Heart-Roy Agee (Shirley 123631) 1963
A reissue of SH 106, when Atlantic distributed this, I remember the record from the first batch of boxed records you can get at the thrift stores in the 60s, mostly Atlantic stuff and probably the best of the batch. Echoes of Bobby Blue Bland on Open Up Your Heart including the crooning and moans, with Ray Badger's over the top horns making this a better song than I remembered. First time I heard this 50 years ago, I wasn't impressed but now, it has grown on me to the point that I needed to find a new copy. Out of the three museum forty fives, this one plays the best.
Monday, July 27, 2020
The Madison Bargain Hunts Take 2 Part 1
A return back to Madison so soon? Let's just say I had some unfinished biz to do. Namely trying to find a elusive Brenda Lee song, Is It True? To which I didn't but found a few in the 25 cent bin. To which I will extend this out for the week in conjunction with the Beaker Street Friday list.
I can't have fun in Madison. Riding a bike and having some dumb fuck liberal old white guy yelling at me. To which I told him to go fuck himself, these cockroaches simply will not let me have any fun riding the bike. For the first time, I rode down State Street and seen a lot of abandoned places, boarded up plywood full of graffiti and the usual change chasers and beggars down the street. I have no ideal why old Mr. Fucky White Guy had his man bun in a knot but may he get smacked by the BLM protesters. I used to love going up there, now I look at it like getting a root canal without laughing gas.
If anything, getting to Mad City Music X and extra hour I managed to find some noteworthy stuff. At the junk shop, I found a big sized keyboard for fifty cents, however, the keys are in a disarray. Also, my car discman gave up the ghost, and I trusted a Jensen 1.88 special player that I thought could do the job. Wrong, it skipped on all of the cd's I played with the exception of a Grant Green CD. With Sony Baloney discontinuing the memory and 60 skip function, it's hard to find a decent replacement and I'm not about to spend 250 dollars on the Amazon black market for a used one. I will try my chances on what's available and is a five star recommendation. For CDs, I found 14, a few more than the June hunts, mostly jazz stuff at St Vinnies. And I finally got a vinyl copy of Homegrown from Neil Young for 21.99 and Brandy Clark's Jukebox Of Your Life for 19.99. I rather have the vinyl than the oblong and cheap digipacks that Warner Music tends to favor. Mad City Music continuing to do the 11-4 hours, it was the first place to be, then I could go to Strictly Discs for whatever they had. I did pick up a couple of museum 45s, including I Do from the Marvelows, Here I Am Baby by the beloved Marvellettes and Ray Agee's The Gamble, another forty five from my past that I never thought I could find. They have had I Do up there for a while. For CDs, there were some oddball quarter finds at the Pick n Save St Vinnies, as well as this worthless keyboard. But once again I found a best of Al Hibbler (the Decca Years), Dave Edmunds' Pile Of Rock and X live at the Whiskey A GO GO, A Gospel collection with King/Gusto Country artists of long ago and far away, A Joe Williams best of the Verve Years, A Jimmy Smith Open House/Plain Talk, Grant Green-Grantstand, and another Chris Isaak I didn't have, Always Got Tonight. Oh, and the new X CD as well.
In the era of the Convid virus Cds are continuing to be found, even if we are on the verge of once again being quarantined for another three months. However, the Madison bargain hunts are a case study in how to hoard records, find off the wall stuff, bring it home, listen to it once and then donate it back to St. Vinnies. They didn't take too long of putting my donated forty fives back to me, to file them away, or pick the best record sleeves, put replacement copies in and take them home again. This time the St Vinnies Williamson St. had the 45's at 30 cents, not the overprice that was experienced when they had the ultimate record sale there. In fact, the leftovers were still there. Also, a few copies came from donations....from Mad City Music X.
For a hoarder/collector, finding pop stuff from the 50s can be rewarding, as well as frustrating. Like Davenport, some pop singles were worthy, most weren't. Somehow I managed to let go a few of the Davenport singles, as well as The Rascals' Carry Me Back, a 45 I did my damnest to keep in the collection but repeated cleanings meant nothing and sound never improved. Why Steve Allen's Pretend You Don't See Her didn't get donated is luck of the draw. It's not rock n roll but Allen was such a nice guy when he was alive. Perhaps next time, on the next trip to St. Vinnies but for now, it's safe.
I found 33 singles to which I'll run 10 of them at a time per week. At some point the usual artists will be there, (Bobby Darin, Brenda Lee, etc).
1) What Can I Say-Boz Scaggs (Columbia 3-10440) #42 1976
The third single from Silk Degrees, an album that broke Boz Scaggs with Lowdown and Lido Shuffle, but It's Over and this song kinda had disappointing sales. I always liked What Can I Say as a opening track. Like Steve Miller's Fly Like An Eagle, Silk Degrees became a signature album taylor made for soft rock radio. It's open to debate if it's his best album. B side was We're All Alone, which was also a b side to Lido Shuffle. Rita Coolridge had a top 10 hit with We're All Alone but I thought We're All Alone was bland and less favorite off Silk Degrees.
2) Life Is A Song Worth Singing-Johnny Mathis (Columbia 4-45975) #54 1973
It's odd that Johnny decided to go to Philadelphia to work with Thom Bell and the MFSB band for the 1973 I'm Coming Home album but I think it's one of the best albums he's ever done. Makes me wonder what would have happened had Norman Whitfield decided to produce Mathis. Mathis proves that he could do soul music with the best of them.
3) Two Doors Down-Zella Lehr (RCA PB-11174) 1977 #7 Country
Written by Dolly Parton, Lehr's version was her highest charting single. Of course Dolly would have her version pop on the Pop 100 (#19 in 1978). Lehr's version is a bit more rocking but not rock enough. My copy is warped.
4) Band Of Gold-Don Cherry (Columbia 4-40597) #4 1955
Let's discuss the b side Rumble Boogie first, a direct variation to Rock Around The Clock by Bill Haley and The Comets all the way down to the echoed drums. Coming from the late stuff neck Mitch Miller, this is considered to be his response to the jumping beat of rock n roll. Ray Conniff does the arrangements tho. The number 4 hit, was the beginning to also, Buchanan and Goodman's Flying Saucer and also features in the opening of Mad Men. Forty years after the fact this song was still being used in tv shows speaks for itself. I'm certain that a R N B doowop group might have done this song as well but I have yet to find that on the internet. For Cherry, his best known song.
5) Need You Bad-Ted Nugent (Epic 8-50648) #84 1978
Recorded in 78, but charted in 79, it was the beginning of the Charlie Huhn era, to which the future Humble Pie and Foghat vocalist made his start, backing up ole Terrible Ted and having Cliff Davies on drums. The comedown in quality after Derrick St Holmes departure was shown but then again it was Terrible Ted writing the songs. As with CBS standards, the 2:44 edit chops off about 16 bars of Nugent's lead guitar work, but unlike You Better Think Twice (poco) or Maggie (redbone) it wasn't a total butcher job. Per usual we prefer the album version 4:18 isn't going to bother anybody, unless it's you're trying to sell commercials. I remember a local band covered this song at the talent show. And their drummer was the inspiration for me to take up drums. B side I Got The Feelin' is more of the Nugent rave up we all grown up and love before his right wing ways made us want to disown him. The record actually plays pretty good despite a shoddy mix and subpar plant pressing.
6) Clementine-Bobby Darin (Atco 45-6161) #21 1960
Our annual Bobby Darin find, a copy of Baby May (on direction) was cracked in three places so I opted for this Richard Weis arrangement of this song, done in the style of Mack The Knife and Beyond The Sea, but the least effective of the trio of songs. And the most silliest. B side Tall Story continues that Pop Jump Jazz Junk that Darin was exploring at that time. We're not done with Bobby just yet.
7) I'll Be There-Gerry And The Pacemakers (Laurie L-3279) #14 1964
Remember on our last Singles Going Steady segment that we discuss the B side to Bill Bailey? It sounded perfect for a second tier British Invasion band, well I didn't say it at that time but little did I know that Gerry Marsden did cover this Bobby Darin song for a top twenty hit. Which works better for The Pacemakers than Darin himself. I don't highly on Gerry and the Pacemakers, they're a step up from the banality of Freddie And The Dreamers or the halfwits that are Herman's Hermits. The B side You You You is a throwaway 2 minute ditty.
8) Don't Be A Bunny-Sugar And Spice (Wing W-90081) 1956
http://doo-wop.blogg.org/sugar-spice-1-c26505380
Buck Ram (The Platters) signed this duo and made three singles, this one features Mickey Baker's guitar work. An oddball term, A bunny is a square that disrupts the live concert settings. Only in today's world that would be somebody yakking on a cellphone and standing in front of you at a live gigs, before the CORNY virus and social distancing became a part of today's music live venue. B side There Were No Angels, combines the worst of Since I Met You Baby and Over The Mountain Over The Sea to make a third rate doo wop song.
9) The Dick Hyman Piano Concerto Excerpt From Movement 1
Dick Hyman (Command 45-4132) 1970
Hyman has been a long in the tooth conductor, making albums for MGM and Command before discovering the Moog and getting a couple of interesting chart placing sides like Topless Dancers of Corfu and the 7 and half minute Minotaur. This was his final Command single, which has a part 1 and 11, to which the latter is more muzak and channels his inner Liberace.
10) Here I Am Baby-The Marvelettes (Tamla T-54166) #44 1968
I always thought they were more sexier and tougher than Diana Ross and The Supremes tho Barry Gordy has his interests at hand on the former band. The Marvelettes still got good songs from Smokey Robinson, such as this song. B side is a Barry Gordy/Johnny Bristol throwaway Keep Off No Trespassing. The Funk Brothers do lively up this ho hum song but The Marvelettes don't sound that interested in this song.
I can't have fun in Madison. Riding a bike and having some dumb fuck liberal old white guy yelling at me. To which I told him to go fuck himself, these cockroaches simply will not let me have any fun riding the bike. For the first time, I rode down State Street and seen a lot of abandoned places, boarded up plywood full of graffiti and the usual change chasers and beggars down the street. I have no ideal why old Mr. Fucky White Guy had his man bun in a knot but may he get smacked by the BLM protesters. I used to love going up there, now I look at it like getting a root canal without laughing gas.
If anything, getting to Mad City Music X and extra hour I managed to find some noteworthy stuff. At the junk shop, I found a big sized keyboard for fifty cents, however, the keys are in a disarray. Also, my car discman gave up the ghost, and I trusted a Jensen 1.88 special player that I thought could do the job. Wrong, it skipped on all of the cd's I played with the exception of a Grant Green CD. With Sony Baloney discontinuing the memory and 60 skip function, it's hard to find a decent replacement and I'm not about to spend 250 dollars on the Amazon black market for a used one. I will try my chances on what's available and is a five star recommendation. For CDs, I found 14, a few more than the June hunts, mostly jazz stuff at St Vinnies. And I finally got a vinyl copy of Homegrown from Neil Young for 21.99 and Brandy Clark's Jukebox Of Your Life for 19.99. I rather have the vinyl than the oblong and cheap digipacks that Warner Music tends to favor. Mad City Music continuing to do the 11-4 hours, it was the first place to be, then I could go to Strictly Discs for whatever they had. I did pick up a couple of museum 45s, including I Do from the Marvelows, Here I Am Baby by the beloved Marvellettes and Ray Agee's The Gamble, another forty five from my past that I never thought I could find. They have had I Do up there for a while. For CDs, there were some oddball quarter finds at the Pick n Save St Vinnies, as well as this worthless keyboard. But once again I found a best of Al Hibbler (the Decca Years), Dave Edmunds' Pile Of Rock and X live at the Whiskey A GO GO, A Gospel collection with King/Gusto Country artists of long ago and far away, A Joe Williams best of the Verve Years, A Jimmy Smith Open House/Plain Talk, Grant Green-Grantstand, and another Chris Isaak I didn't have, Always Got Tonight. Oh, and the new X CD as well.
In the era of the Convid virus Cds are continuing to be found, even if we are on the verge of once again being quarantined for another three months. However, the Madison bargain hunts are a case study in how to hoard records, find off the wall stuff, bring it home, listen to it once and then donate it back to St. Vinnies. They didn't take too long of putting my donated forty fives back to me, to file them away, or pick the best record sleeves, put replacement copies in and take them home again. This time the St Vinnies Williamson St. had the 45's at 30 cents, not the overprice that was experienced when they had the ultimate record sale there. In fact, the leftovers were still there. Also, a few copies came from donations....from Mad City Music X.
For a hoarder/collector, finding pop stuff from the 50s can be rewarding, as well as frustrating. Like Davenport, some pop singles were worthy, most weren't. Somehow I managed to let go a few of the Davenport singles, as well as The Rascals' Carry Me Back, a 45 I did my damnest to keep in the collection but repeated cleanings meant nothing and sound never improved. Why Steve Allen's Pretend You Don't See Her didn't get donated is luck of the draw. It's not rock n roll but Allen was such a nice guy when he was alive. Perhaps next time, on the next trip to St. Vinnies but for now, it's safe.
I found 33 singles to which I'll run 10 of them at a time per week. At some point the usual artists will be there, (Bobby Darin, Brenda Lee, etc).
1) What Can I Say-Boz Scaggs (Columbia 3-10440) #42 1976
The third single from Silk Degrees, an album that broke Boz Scaggs with Lowdown and Lido Shuffle, but It's Over and this song kinda had disappointing sales. I always liked What Can I Say as a opening track. Like Steve Miller's Fly Like An Eagle, Silk Degrees became a signature album taylor made for soft rock radio. It's open to debate if it's his best album. B side was We're All Alone, which was also a b side to Lido Shuffle. Rita Coolridge had a top 10 hit with We're All Alone but I thought We're All Alone was bland and less favorite off Silk Degrees.
2) Life Is A Song Worth Singing-Johnny Mathis (Columbia 4-45975) #54 1973
It's odd that Johnny decided to go to Philadelphia to work with Thom Bell and the MFSB band for the 1973 I'm Coming Home album but I think it's one of the best albums he's ever done. Makes me wonder what would have happened had Norman Whitfield decided to produce Mathis. Mathis proves that he could do soul music with the best of them.
3) Two Doors Down-Zella Lehr (RCA PB-11174) 1977 #7 Country
Written by Dolly Parton, Lehr's version was her highest charting single. Of course Dolly would have her version pop on the Pop 100 (#19 in 1978). Lehr's version is a bit more rocking but not rock enough. My copy is warped.
4) Band Of Gold-Don Cherry (Columbia 4-40597) #4 1955
Let's discuss the b side Rumble Boogie first, a direct variation to Rock Around The Clock by Bill Haley and The Comets all the way down to the echoed drums. Coming from the late stuff neck Mitch Miller, this is considered to be his response to the jumping beat of rock n roll. Ray Conniff does the arrangements tho. The number 4 hit, was the beginning to also, Buchanan and Goodman's Flying Saucer and also features in the opening of Mad Men. Forty years after the fact this song was still being used in tv shows speaks for itself. I'm certain that a R N B doowop group might have done this song as well but I have yet to find that on the internet. For Cherry, his best known song.
5) Need You Bad-Ted Nugent (Epic 8-50648) #84 1978
Recorded in 78, but charted in 79, it was the beginning of the Charlie Huhn era, to which the future Humble Pie and Foghat vocalist made his start, backing up ole Terrible Ted and having Cliff Davies on drums. The comedown in quality after Derrick St Holmes departure was shown but then again it was Terrible Ted writing the songs. As with CBS standards, the 2:44 edit chops off about 16 bars of Nugent's lead guitar work, but unlike You Better Think Twice (poco) or Maggie (redbone) it wasn't a total butcher job. Per usual we prefer the album version 4:18 isn't going to bother anybody, unless it's you're trying to sell commercials. I remember a local band covered this song at the talent show. And their drummer was the inspiration for me to take up drums. B side I Got The Feelin' is more of the Nugent rave up we all grown up and love before his right wing ways made us want to disown him. The record actually plays pretty good despite a shoddy mix and subpar plant pressing.
6) Clementine-Bobby Darin (Atco 45-6161) #21 1960
Our annual Bobby Darin find, a copy of Baby May (on direction) was cracked in three places so I opted for this Richard Weis arrangement of this song, done in the style of Mack The Knife and Beyond The Sea, but the least effective of the trio of songs. And the most silliest. B side Tall Story continues that Pop Jump Jazz Junk that Darin was exploring at that time. We're not done with Bobby just yet.
7) I'll Be There-Gerry And The Pacemakers (Laurie L-3279) #14 1964
Remember on our last Singles Going Steady segment that we discuss the B side to Bill Bailey? It sounded perfect for a second tier British Invasion band, well I didn't say it at that time but little did I know that Gerry Marsden did cover this Bobby Darin song for a top twenty hit. Which works better for The Pacemakers than Darin himself. I don't highly on Gerry and the Pacemakers, they're a step up from the banality of Freddie And The Dreamers or the halfwits that are Herman's Hermits. The B side You You You is a throwaway 2 minute ditty.
8) Don't Be A Bunny-Sugar And Spice (Wing W-90081) 1956
http://doo-wop.blogg.org/sugar-spice-1-c26505380
Buck Ram (The Platters) signed this duo and made three singles, this one features Mickey Baker's guitar work. An oddball term, A bunny is a square that disrupts the live concert settings. Only in today's world that would be somebody yakking on a cellphone and standing in front of you at a live gigs, before the CORNY virus and social distancing became a part of today's music live venue. B side There Were No Angels, combines the worst of Since I Met You Baby and Over The Mountain Over The Sea to make a third rate doo wop song.
9) The Dick Hyman Piano Concerto Excerpt From Movement 1
Dick Hyman (Command 45-4132) 1970
Hyman has been a long in the tooth conductor, making albums for MGM and Command before discovering the Moog and getting a couple of interesting chart placing sides like Topless Dancers of Corfu and the 7 and half minute Minotaur. This was his final Command single, which has a part 1 and 11, to which the latter is more muzak and channels his inner Liberace.
10) Here I Am Baby-The Marvelettes (Tamla T-54166) #44 1968
I always thought they were more sexier and tougher than Diana Ross and The Supremes tho Barry Gordy has his interests at hand on the former band. The Marvelettes still got good songs from Smokey Robinson, such as this song. B side is a Barry Gordy/Johnny Bristol throwaway Keep Off No Trespassing. The Funk Brothers do lively up this ho hum song but The Marvelettes don't sound that interested in this song.
Sunday, July 26, 2020
Peter Green
Sure the Fleetwood Mac with Buckingham/Nicks had the most sales but it still is the Peter Green Led Mac that hardcore Mac fans remember the best. Early Fleetwood Mac albums were on Epic (tho Sire Records cherry picked the best of that era to a decent overview) and more hardcore blues, but each album Green was eventually beginning to get bored of the blues and playing more introspective songs to which would come all together on their Reprise debut Then Play On. Quite moody and isolated were the songs Closing My Eyes and Show Biz Blues, to which the US version had afterwards. The UK version jumbles the songs to which is missing that ebb and flow that made the US album better. However, The Green Maharishi is on the UK version. Nevertheless, Oh Well pretty much sums up what Green was feeling at that time, Part 1, some of the more hardest rocking grooves they ever did and part 2 which sounds like A spaghetti western and the feeling about being out in the desert for a long long time.
I remember buying Then Play On after meeting Amy at Showbiz Pizza and she wasn't getting along with her boyfriend at that time. While she was calling in the middle of the night, pissing off my mom, Then Play On was in the background. I basically knew that what we had was not going to last and so this became my go to album when things weren't going well for the both of us. History did showed that Amy would eventually get back together. And I would be a useless footnote in her life.
Peter Green started out playing in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers band and played on A Hard Road. And then joined up with Mick Fleetwood and John McVie to start the Mac with Jeremy Spencer, a hard core Elmore James fan. However, Green did come up with the stunning Black Magic Woman, the sheer beauty of Albatross and the brooding Man Of The World. And Of course, Then Play On, however with that, a concert to which a bunch of hippies overtook Green and sent him into a whole different world. Green would issued End Of The Game and would be silent for eight years.
I never did hear much of his Splinter group albums that brought him back into the music spotlight. It just wasn't the same anymore, but Green did lead a pretty good music life before passing away in his sleep friday night at age 73. He has finally found God and peace in his world.
Annie Ross passing:
https://www.npr.org/2020/07/22/894112242/annie-ross-mid-century-jazz-icon-dead-at-89
One hell of a woman who lived a full life. The Marianne Faithful of jazz.
I remember buying Then Play On after meeting Amy at Showbiz Pizza and she wasn't getting along with her boyfriend at that time. While she was calling in the middle of the night, pissing off my mom, Then Play On was in the background. I basically knew that what we had was not going to last and so this became my go to album when things weren't going well for the both of us. History did showed that Amy would eventually get back together. And I would be a useless footnote in her life.
Peter Green started out playing in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers band and played on A Hard Road. And then joined up with Mick Fleetwood and John McVie to start the Mac with Jeremy Spencer, a hard core Elmore James fan. However, Green did come up with the stunning Black Magic Woman, the sheer beauty of Albatross and the brooding Man Of The World. And Of course, Then Play On, however with that, a concert to which a bunch of hippies overtook Green and sent him into a whole different world. Green would issued End Of The Game and would be silent for eight years.
I never did hear much of his Splinter group albums that brought him back into the music spotlight. It just wasn't the same anymore, but Green did lead a pretty good music life before passing away in his sleep friday night at age 73. He has finally found God and peace in his world.
Annie Ross passing:
https://www.npr.org/2020/07/22/894112242/annie-ross-mid-century-jazz-icon-dead-at-89
One hell of a woman who lived a full life. The Marianne Faithful of jazz.
Saturday, July 25, 2020
Beaker Street Playlist 7/24/20
9 p.m. -10 p.m.
1. Ten Years After “50,000 Miles Beneath My Brain” (Started at 8:56 p.m.)
2. East of Eden “Northern Hemisphere”
3. Trout Fishing in America “Park Avenue and Tyson Street”
4. The Firm “Satisfaction Guaranteed”
5. Audience “Jackdaw”
6. Eric Clapton and Dr. John “Layla” (Live- Duet at the Roseland Ballroom 1996)
7. Andy Powell “Blowin’ Free” (Live at Juanita’s)
8. Chickenfoot “Runnin’ Out”
9. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young “Wooden Ships” (Live- Deja Vu Live)
10. Jefferson Airplane “Volunteers”
10 p.m. – 11 p.m.
1. The Allman Brothers Band “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” (Live At The Fillmore East)
2. Mason Proffit “Two Hangman”
3. Steely Dan “Bodhisattva”
4. Dixie Dregs “Shapes Of Things”
5. Scallion “Wild Horizon”
6. The Doors “Peace Frog”
7. Shadowfax “The Watercourse Way”
8. Captain Beyond “Sufficiently Breathless”
9. Donovan “Atlantis”
11 p.m. – Midnight
1. Grand Funk Railroad “T.N.U.C.”
2. Black Sabbath “Sweet Leaf”
3. Deep Purple “Listen, Learn, Read On/ Wring That Neck”
4. Brewer and Shipley “Tarkio Road”
5. David Lindley and El Rayo-X “Jah Reggae” (Live)
6. Eagles “Seven Bridges Road” (Live- Eagles Live)
7. Crosby, Stills & Nash “Southern Cross”
8. Deep Water Reunion “Cindy’s Cryin'”
9. The Spring Standards “Goodbye Midnight”
10. Mike + The Mechanics “Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)”
Complied by Tyler Vincent and calls this the best one yet.
1. Ten Years After “50,000 Miles Beneath My Brain” (Started at 8:56 p.m.)
2. East of Eden “Northern Hemisphere”
3. Trout Fishing in America “Park Avenue and Tyson Street”
4. The Firm “Satisfaction Guaranteed”
5. Audience “Jackdaw”
6. Eric Clapton and Dr. John “Layla” (Live- Duet at the Roseland Ballroom 1996)
7. Andy Powell “Blowin’ Free” (Live at Juanita’s)
8. Chickenfoot “Runnin’ Out”
9. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young “Wooden Ships” (Live- Deja Vu Live)
10. Jefferson Airplane “Volunteers”
10 p.m. – 11 p.m.
1. The Allman Brothers Band “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” (Live At The Fillmore East)
2. Mason Proffit “Two Hangman”
3. Steely Dan “Bodhisattva”
4. Dixie Dregs “Shapes Of Things”
5. Scallion “Wild Horizon”
6. The Doors “Peace Frog”
7. Shadowfax “The Watercourse Way”
8. Captain Beyond “Sufficiently Breathless”
9. Donovan “Atlantis”
11 p.m. – Midnight
1. Grand Funk Railroad “T.N.U.C.”
2. Black Sabbath “Sweet Leaf”
3. Deep Purple “Listen, Learn, Read On/ Wring That Neck”
4. Brewer and Shipley “Tarkio Road”
5. David Lindley and El Rayo-X “Jah Reggae” (Live)
6. Eagles “Seven Bridges Road” (Live- Eagles Live)
7. Crosby, Stills & Nash “Southern Cross”
8. Deep Water Reunion “Cindy’s Cryin'”
9. The Spring Standards “Goodbye Midnight”
10. Mike + The Mechanics “Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)”
Complied by Tyler Vincent and calls this the best one yet.
Monday, July 20, 2020
Emmitt Rhodes
Emmitt Rhodes is one of the best loved power pop bubblegum artists in rock history. With the Merry Go Round, they made a classic album and then they disbanded, Rhodes made the big mistake of going with Dunhill Records, a company that demanded an album every six months. While some people consider that a ultra classic, I never really warmed up to that album, even traded the CD in for a few bucks later, but his minor hit Fresh As A Daisy is easily the best song he ever recorded. The follow up, Mirror, more of the same but even that album appears as Rhodes was getting tired by it all. One more album and he would be gone for 40 years. Listen Listen, is Varase Vintage's portrait of what Rhodes could do, putting key tracks from his solo years and the Merry Go Round. In terms of theory, Dunhill/ABC took the fun out of Rhodes's music career and he went behind the scenes, becoming a producer/engineer for Elektra and various labels.
Rhodes was one of a kind and he will be missed. He passed away at age 70, in his sleep.
Rhodes was one of a kind and he will be missed. He passed away at age 70, in his sleep.
Friday, July 17, 2020
Notes: Jamie Oldaker, Wal Mart, Beaker Street Playlist
2020 continues to take people out of this world. Jamie Oldaker, drummer for The Tractors and Eric Clapton lost his battle with cancer, he was 68. Eric Clapton always said that Oldaker had the best sounding snare when he played. A great drummer and humble musician, Jamie also had words for Jim Morrison, when Jim was dinking around Jamie's cymbals and Jamie took it away from Morrison. Drummers don't like other people fucking with their drums. Jamie also played on Ace Frehley's Second Coming album but he'll be forever known for his work on 461 Ocean Boulevard, the album he did with Eric Clapton. He also recorded the definitive version of Cocaine. I always enjoyed his china accent crashes on that song.
If CD sales are down, you can blame the big box stores. Target and Best Buy have really shrunk their cd section now to simply two racks with the greatest hits or best known albums from artists. And not much variety or new albums. But then again, the major labels aren't exactly helping with subpar crap from country, rap or rock stars.
Russia must be busy, coming back to prop up past archives favorites such as Hee Haw, the Joe Cocker Memorial blog and of course My City Was Gone. I somehow have gotten 1000 views the past two days. While recent posts have gotten 10 to 14 views, the 2014, and 2015 blogs have been more. I'm not sure why stats are touting the archives. Perhaps when Blogger does switch over to the new stat tracker, we'll get a better understanding but for now, if I'm getting a lot of Russian views, I tend to be suspicious. The majority seems to be from Turkmenistan, not exactly a rock and roll country. But they higher on the chart list of viewership than Great Britain Canada, Japan and China. And number one for overall views, more than the US. Makes you wonder.
(Neil Leifer:Photo)
If you survived mud bowl games at Kezar Stadium, then you're immune to the CORVID virus.
The CORVID virus stats are also going up,and this wonderful state is now one of the places not to visit, or if you go to Chicago to visit, then you have to quarantine yourself for two weeks. For myself I continue to use a mask whereever I go out but I may have to stock up on Perry Mason DVD reruns before we get shut down once again. Whatever the situation, this virus, and Fool 45 has really fucked up this year. In more ways than imagined.
(NFL Films)
Five Star Mud Bowl-Washington 15 Pittsburgh 10 (12/10/1967-Pittsburgh)
Best known for the Bill Saul mic up game. It was a rainy afternoon at Pitt Stadium to which the field would become a major mud bog for both teams. Saul played for five seasons at MLB and had to wear those embarrassing sunflower Steelers uniforms, being mic'ed up did enable him to be remembered, however the defense star was Paul Krause, with three interceptions. While Pitt outgained the Skins', it was their five turnovers that would do them in. Plus a late Sonny Jurgenson to Charley Taylor 33 yard TD pass would be the victory for Washington. To which a dejected and pissed off Saul would go tell a kid no autographs are permitted after the game.
Next Up: A Collection of Forty Fives
You Better Think Twice-Poco (Epic 5-10636) #72 1970
Good Lovin-The Young Rascals (Atlantic 45-2321) #1 1966
You're Still On My Mind-Nate Holmes (ABC-11223) 1969
Because Of You (the sun don't set)-Kracker (Dunhill D-4329) 1972
Better Place To Be-Harry Chapin (Elektra EK-45628) 1972
I Do Believe That I'm Losing You-One'sy Mack (Atlantic 45-2938) 1972
The Way You Look Tonight-The Lettermen (Capitol 4586) #13 1961
Razzle Dazzle-Bill Haley/The Comets (Decca 9-29552) #15 1955
Leader Of The Pack-Shangai-las (Eric 144) #1 1964
You Better Think Twice, is a butchered 45 edit of the Poco minor hit single. Nate Holmes' took over for Lowell Folsom for the Blues Barons I believe and was the only male singer in Ray Charles band. You're Still On My Mind is a lost soul classic. Alice Jean "One'sy Mack did a one off soul ballad that Atlantic purchased from Aristo Record and Arif Marlin overdubbed strings. Kracker is interesting for being on Rolling Stones Records, but in the Us they recorded two singles for Dunhill Records. Harry's Better Place To Be was issued in 1972 in the full six minute version but ended up being a FM underground hit. In 1976, released again and made the charts at number 86. That would be Harry's last top 100 till Sequel came out in 1982. And then we lost Harry.
I basically bought The Lettermen's single due to That's My Desire, the B side. I had an earlier copy but it was too far gone. And the Bill Haley 45 was cheap and lots of fun to hear.
Albums from my youth: The Blues Brothers OST (Atlantic 1980)
John Belushi and Dan Akroyd always had a love of R and B, mostly on the Atlantic side and when Briefcase Full Of Blues took off, it give a second wind to the likes of Ray Charles or Aretha Franklin. Some people like the movies as a all time classic, I fell asleep at certain points and wouldn't change the channel if it came on cable. Kinda hard to picture James Brown as a Gospel Reverend but James can rave an old gospel hymm to new heights. This would be the last time we get to hear Cab Calloway rave about Minnie The Moocher, and Brother Ray has fun with Shake a Tail Feather. It makes great sense for them to tap Steve Cropper and Donald Duck Dunn for the remakes. The Blues Brothers didn't parody R and B, they loved this too much to ever do that. This album did hope that the listener if they liked this, would seek out the originals.
B+
Bob Marley And The Wailers-Legend (Expended Edition-Tuff Gong 2002)
The original LP, stockpiled some new Eric Thorngren mixes to add clarity to the times at hand. But in the CD era, Legend has continued to sell, (it still makes the Billboard top 200 each week) and you can find any copy at the thrift store, such as with this copy, 50 cents for a still sealed version, don't mind if I do. I'm not sure if the bonus tracks Easy Skanking and Punky Reggae Party are as essential, The 2nd reissue left them off, The Thorngren mixes did make it to the Legend/Rarities that came out later on and is a worthwhile companion. It seems Marley found his groove after Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer moved on with the I-Threes but he had the Carlton rhythm section with him through it all. Barrett Carlton, the best 'one drop' reggae drummer. Certainly Island did picked the best songs of Marley's career in the first place, from One Love/People Get Ready to Jamming. Marley knew his grooves quite well. I do feel compelled that the bonus tracks did cheapen the album but still an A album is a A album. Even with lesser interesting songs.
A
Joni Mitchell-Point/Counterpoint
Hits [Reprise, 1996]
Would it were modesty that inspired her to release the hour-long Hits and Misses rather than the usual multi-CD doorstop. But given that she's fed her enormous ego hunks of what was once an equally enormous talent for 20 years now, figure the opposite. Unable to abide the thought of superceding any portion of her catalogue, much less adjudging some of it less worthy than the rest, the Grammy-winning Billboard and BMI awardee elected to concentrate beloved older songs in one compilation and leaden newer ones in another. The result is an uncommonly fabulous educational tool for the Ani DiFranco fan on your list that does more for the two post-1980 items it tacks on than Misses does for the seven that weigh it down. But since the cream of the 15 selections can also be found on her four prime early-'70s albums--For the Roses, Court and Spark, Blue, and Ladies of the Canyon--it's docked a notch for inutility. A-
Robert Christgau and his passion for ten dollar words. The guys in Foreigner are the prototype for inutility, with their repackaging and constant Greatest hits live crapola. Trying to find a decent Joni Mitchell album is trying to find a decent Dave Clark Five 45 that's not all scratched up. It's out there somewhere. Mitchell has always been the fussiest artist that I have listened to. This is probably the best album to hear Both Sides Now, Cheslea Morning, and the Circle Song without going to the original albums..Out of all the Joni albums, Court And Spark has been the go to album, Blue and For The Roses a distant second or third. Christgau may have a point, none of the Asylum albums after Court and Spark are not represented and the Geffen sides, bore me, especially Come In From The Cold. Find a cheap copy at the thrift store and you'll be fine. Even inutility albums do have some value...unless you're Foreigner.
B+
Speaking of inutility, Christgau continues to write under the pay to read And It Don't Stop at substack.com. Which is where you can read his reviews of unknown world music and rap acts.
BTW you still have five days to check out Comet Neowise before it starts the long journey to the other side of the universe and won't be back for another 8,000 years. Charlie Chaz Lemm took this stunning shot of the comet.
Beaker Street Playlist 7-17-2020 (Tyler Vincent compiled)
Blue Oyster Cult-ME 262
Cream “Politician”
Chicago “Dialogue (Part I & Part II)”
Second hour:
1. The Chambers Brothers “Time Has Come Today” (Complete Version)
2. Brewer & Shipley “Witchi-Tai-To”
3. The Neville Brothers “Fire On The Mountain”
4. Chris Rea “Burning Feet”
5. Mickey Hart “Where Love Goes (Sito)”
6. The Byrds “Chestnut Mare”
7. Climax Blues Band “Reaching Out”
8. Jeff Beck “Beck’s Bolero” (Live)
9. Captain Beyond “Voyages of Past Travelers”
10. Michael Brewer “Rolling With The Punches”
third hour
1. Styx “I Am The Walrus” (Live – Big Bang Theory)
2. The Dino Kruse Band “Only Come Out At Night”
3. Abraxas Pool “Jingo”
4. David Lindley and El Rayo-X “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” (Live- Very Greasy)
5. Eric Burdon and The Animals “Sky Pilot”
6. Grateful Dead “Wharf Rat” (Live- Skull & Roses)
7. Styx “The Serpent Is Rising> Krakatoa> Hallelujah Chrous”
8. Kula Shaker “Baby You’re A Rich Man” (Live)
final hour
1. Wishbone Ash “The King Will Come” (Live)
2. The Corporation “I Want To Get Out Of My Grave”
3. Gordon Lightfoot “The No Hotel”
4. The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown “Prelude- Nightmare/ Fanfate- Fire Poem/ Fire”
5. The Who “A Quick One While He’s Away” (Live At Leeds)
6. Steeleye Span “The Prickly Bush”
7. Blue Oyster Cult “E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence)” (Live- Some Enchanted Evening)
8. Rotary Connection “Lady Jane”
9. Jefferson Starship “Women Who Fly”
Notes:
Beaker Street started earlier than usual with BOC leading off with ME 262. But Clyde gave us the full 11 minute version of Time Has Come Today and the Beaker Street fave Witchi Tai To. Sky Pilot was debuted for the first time that Clyde came back this summer. A few folks complained about the Styx songs but I like their Wooden Nickel albums better than the radio ready crap later on. A few surprises, a couple duds but it is Beaker Street as we all know and love.
If CD sales are down, you can blame the big box stores. Target and Best Buy have really shrunk their cd section now to simply two racks with the greatest hits or best known albums from artists. And not much variety or new albums. But then again, the major labels aren't exactly helping with subpar crap from country, rap or rock stars.
Russia must be busy, coming back to prop up past archives favorites such as Hee Haw, the Joe Cocker Memorial blog and of course My City Was Gone. I somehow have gotten 1000 views the past two days. While recent posts have gotten 10 to 14 views, the 2014, and 2015 blogs have been more. I'm not sure why stats are touting the archives. Perhaps when Blogger does switch over to the new stat tracker, we'll get a better understanding but for now, if I'm getting a lot of Russian views, I tend to be suspicious. The majority seems to be from Turkmenistan, not exactly a rock and roll country. But they higher on the chart list of viewership than Great Britain Canada, Japan and China. And number one for overall views, more than the US. Makes you wonder.
(Neil Leifer:Photo)
If you survived mud bowl games at Kezar Stadium, then you're immune to the CORVID virus.
The CORVID virus stats are also going up,and this wonderful state is now one of the places not to visit, or if you go to Chicago to visit, then you have to quarantine yourself for two weeks. For myself I continue to use a mask whereever I go out but I may have to stock up on Perry Mason DVD reruns before we get shut down once again. Whatever the situation, this virus, and Fool 45 has really fucked up this year. In more ways than imagined.
(NFL Films)
Five Star Mud Bowl-Washington 15 Pittsburgh 10 (12/10/1967-Pittsburgh)
Best known for the Bill Saul mic up game. It was a rainy afternoon at Pitt Stadium to which the field would become a major mud bog for both teams. Saul played for five seasons at MLB and had to wear those embarrassing sunflower Steelers uniforms, being mic'ed up did enable him to be remembered, however the defense star was Paul Krause, with three interceptions. While Pitt outgained the Skins', it was their five turnovers that would do them in. Plus a late Sonny Jurgenson to Charley Taylor 33 yard TD pass would be the victory for Washington. To which a dejected and pissed off Saul would go tell a kid no autographs are permitted after the game.
Next Up: A Collection of Forty Fives
You Better Think Twice-Poco (Epic 5-10636) #72 1970
Good Lovin-The Young Rascals (Atlantic 45-2321) #1 1966
You're Still On My Mind-Nate Holmes (ABC-11223) 1969
Because Of You (the sun don't set)-Kracker (Dunhill D-4329) 1972
Better Place To Be-Harry Chapin (Elektra EK-45628) 1972
I Do Believe That I'm Losing You-One'sy Mack (Atlantic 45-2938) 1972
The Way You Look Tonight-The Lettermen (Capitol 4586) #13 1961
Razzle Dazzle-Bill Haley/The Comets (Decca 9-29552) #15 1955
Leader Of The Pack-Shangai-las (Eric 144) #1 1964
You Better Think Twice, is a butchered 45 edit of the Poco minor hit single. Nate Holmes' took over for Lowell Folsom for the Blues Barons I believe and was the only male singer in Ray Charles band. You're Still On My Mind is a lost soul classic. Alice Jean "One'sy Mack did a one off soul ballad that Atlantic purchased from Aristo Record and Arif Marlin overdubbed strings. Kracker is interesting for being on Rolling Stones Records, but in the Us they recorded two singles for Dunhill Records. Harry's Better Place To Be was issued in 1972 in the full six minute version but ended up being a FM underground hit. In 1976, released again and made the charts at number 86. That would be Harry's last top 100 till Sequel came out in 1982. And then we lost Harry.
I basically bought The Lettermen's single due to That's My Desire, the B side. I had an earlier copy but it was too far gone. And the Bill Haley 45 was cheap and lots of fun to hear.
Albums from my youth: The Blues Brothers OST (Atlantic 1980)
John Belushi and Dan Akroyd always had a love of R and B, mostly on the Atlantic side and when Briefcase Full Of Blues took off, it give a second wind to the likes of Ray Charles or Aretha Franklin. Some people like the movies as a all time classic, I fell asleep at certain points and wouldn't change the channel if it came on cable. Kinda hard to picture James Brown as a Gospel Reverend but James can rave an old gospel hymm to new heights. This would be the last time we get to hear Cab Calloway rave about Minnie The Moocher, and Brother Ray has fun with Shake a Tail Feather. It makes great sense for them to tap Steve Cropper and Donald Duck Dunn for the remakes. The Blues Brothers didn't parody R and B, they loved this too much to ever do that. This album did hope that the listener if they liked this, would seek out the originals.
B+
Bob Marley And The Wailers-Legend (Expended Edition-Tuff Gong 2002)
The original LP, stockpiled some new Eric Thorngren mixes to add clarity to the times at hand. But in the CD era, Legend has continued to sell, (it still makes the Billboard top 200 each week) and you can find any copy at the thrift store, such as with this copy, 50 cents for a still sealed version, don't mind if I do. I'm not sure if the bonus tracks Easy Skanking and Punky Reggae Party are as essential, The 2nd reissue left them off, The Thorngren mixes did make it to the Legend/Rarities that came out later on and is a worthwhile companion. It seems Marley found his groove after Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer moved on with the I-Threes but he had the Carlton rhythm section with him through it all. Barrett Carlton, the best 'one drop' reggae drummer. Certainly Island did picked the best songs of Marley's career in the first place, from One Love/People Get Ready to Jamming. Marley knew his grooves quite well. I do feel compelled that the bonus tracks did cheapen the album but still an A album is a A album. Even with lesser interesting songs.
A
Joni Mitchell-Point/Counterpoint
Hits [Reprise, 1996]
Would it were modesty that inspired her to release the hour-long Hits and Misses rather than the usual multi-CD doorstop. But given that she's fed her enormous ego hunks of what was once an equally enormous talent for 20 years now, figure the opposite. Unable to abide the thought of superceding any portion of her catalogue, much less adjudging some of it less worthy than the rest, the Grammy-winning Billboard and BMI awardee elected to concentrate beloved older songs in one compilation and leaden newer ones in another. The result is an uncommonly fabulous educational tool for the Ani DiFranco fan on your list that does more for the two post-1980 items it tacks on than Misses does for the seven that weigh it down. But since the cream of the 15 selections can also be found on her four prime early-'70s albums--For the Roses, Court and Spark, Blue, and Ladies of the Canyon--it's docked a notch for inutility. A-
Robert Christgau and his passion for ten dollar words. The guys in Foreigner are the prototype for inutility, with their repackaging and constant Greatest hits live crapola. Trying to find a decent Joni Mitchell album is trying to find a decent Dave Clark Five 45 that's not all scratched up. It's out there somewhere. Mitchell has always been the fussiest artist that I have listened to. This is probably the best album to hear Both Sides Now, Cheslea Morning, and the Circle Song without going to the original albums..Out of all the Joni albums, Court And Spark has been the go to album, Blue and For The Roses a distant second or third. Christgau may have a point, none of the Asylum albums after Court and Spark are not represented and the Geffen sides, bore me, especially Come In From The Cold. Find a cheap copy at the thrift store and you'll be fine. Even inutility albums do have some value...unless you're Foreigner.
B+
Speaking of inutility, Christgau continues to write under the pay to read And It Don't Stop at substack.com. Which is where you can read his reviews of unknown world music and rap acts.
BTW you still have five days to check out Comet Neowise before it starts the long journey to the other side of the universe and won't be back for another 8,000 years. Charlie Chaz Lemm took this stunning shot of the comet.
Beaker Street Playlist 7-17-2020 (Tyler Vincent compiled)
Blue Oyster Cult-ME 262
Cream “Politician”
Chicago “Dialogue (Part I & Part II)”
Second hour:
1. The Chambers Brothers “Time Has Come Today” (Complete Version)
2. Brewer & Shipley “Witchi-Tai-To”
3. The Neville Brothers “Fire On The Mountain”
4. Chris Rea “Burning Feet”
5. Mickey Hart “Where Love Goes (Sito)”
6. The Byrds “Chestnut Mare”
7. Climax Blues Band “Reaching Out”
8. Jeff Beck “Beck’s Bolero” (Live)
9. Captain Beyond “Voyages of Past Travelers”
10. Michael Brewer “Rolling With The Punches”
third hour
1. Styx “I Am The Walrus” (Live – Big Bang Theory)
2. The Dino Kruse Band “Only Come Out At Night”
3. Abraxas Pool “Jingo”
4. David Lindley and El Rayo-X “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” (Live- Very Greasy)
5. Eric Burdon and The Animals “Sky Pilot”
6. Grateful Dead “Wharf Rat” (Live- Skull & Roses)
7. Styx “The Serpent Is Rising> Krakatoa> Hallelujah Chrous”
8. Kula Shaker “Baby You’re A Rich Man” (Live)
final hour
1. Wishbone Ash “The King Will Come” (Live)
2. The Corporation “I Want To Get Out Of My Grave”
3. Gordon Lightfoot “The No Hotel”
4. The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown “Prelude- Nightmare/ Fanfate- Fire Poem/ Fire”
5. The Who “A Quick One While He’s Away” (Live At Leeds)
6. Steeleye Span “The Prickly Bush”
7. Blue Oyster Cult “E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence)” (Live- Some Enchanted Evening)
8. Rotary Connection “Lady Jane”
9. Jefferson Starship “Women Who Fly”
Notes:
Beaker Street started earlier than usual with BOC leading off with ME 262. But Clyde gave us the full 11 minute version of Time Has Come Today and the Beaker Street fave Witchi Tai To. Sky Pilot was debuted for the first time that Clyde came back this summer. A few folks complained about the Styx songs but I like their Wooden Nickel albums better than the radio ready crap later on. A few surprises, a couple duds but it is Beaker Street as we all know and love.
Tuesday, July 14, 2020
Singles Going Steady 66-The Sounds Of 57 (and then some)
Yet another attempt to document the 45 findings and trying to make sense of it all. Turns out the majority of these singles did come from 1957 and 1958, to which The Sounds of 57 would be the perfect title.
As with the majority of these songs, I have no clue how they sound, I just went with a feeling that I might find something of value to listen to. Most of these artists were minor, except for Ruth Brown and Ted Taylor. As with dated 50's big band production, these were the sounds of the times, all the way down to Vaughn Monroe's muzak arrangements. The majority of these are still keepers, the lesser known an experiment not to hit the reject button. That's how it goes when you look at old 50s records. Keeping an open mind always works.
1) Amstel Beer Calypso-Jamaica Johnny (Phillips 399 146 DF) 1957
Jamaica Johnny made a bunch of singles in the late 50s, mostly via Phillips Netherlands but I never seen a picture sleeve of this before. A product of the times Amstel is noted for the first imported dutch beer. Heineken bought them out in 1968 and closed the dutch brewery down, but it's still going strong. If you can handle the aftertaste tho.
2) Stan The Man-Steve Bledsoe and the blue jays (Scope 1961x45) 1958
Stan Musial, one of the greatest all time St Louis Cardinals ever gets a country song named for him. B side Peabody's Tomb is a novel rockabilly number complete with a crazy baritone singer to boot.
3) Shepherd Of The Stars-Dick Noel (Fraternity F-788) 1957
Best known for covering Hot Dog That Made Her Mad (Wanda Jackson had a bigger hit with her version) Noel was a pop crooner somewhat in a Perry Como vein or a not so rowdy Al Martino. Maybe the b side Moonlight In Mexico was the hit. Who cares anyway?
4) Jealous-Danny Kellarney (Fraternity F-783) 1957
One of two singles Danny recorded for Fraternity, basically in the style of Guy Mitchell and Ray Conniff productions. Songs this paranoid shouldn't be so happy and bouncy. You Can't Fool An Angel is B side pop nonsense.
5) Two Ways-Shirley Norwood (Fraternity F-789) 1957
Another unknown pop singer of the 50s, Shirley probably best known for Two Hearts (with an arrow between), this is the first of two forgotten singles for Fraternity. The annoying accordion didn't help things. Take My Heart is more annoying accordion and pop muzak vocals.
6) Days Are Dark-Ted Taylor (Ebb 113) 1957
After going through 4 pop standards, we get lowdown in the R and B from Ted Taylor, who has a career recording for various labels in his career, mostly for Ronn/Jewel in the 60s. Days Are Dark have that perfect r and b shuffle. Everywhere I go, is uptempo rock, Taylor sings in a Little Willie John vein. A keeper.
7) Pretend You Don't See Her-Steve Allen (Coral 9-61909) 1957
Light muzak jazz from Allen. As well as I Still Haven't Got Him.
8) When You Return-Tony Williams (Mercury 71158x45) 1957
The voice of The Platters tries for a solo career, trading the Platters for a orchestra but still under Buck Ram's production. In the long run, Johnny Mathis and Al Hibbler had him beat, simply of better songs or arrangments. The failure of this song put Williams back to the Platters till 1961 when he tried again for a solo career and had some singles on Reprise and Phillips. B side Let's Start All Over Again is more MOR Hogwash.
9) San-Terry Snyder And His Rhythm (Coral 9-61901) 1957
Later covered by Chet Atkins and Tom Tomilinson and Jerry Kennedy, it's a country slated rockabilly number. I have a soft spot for instrumentals like this song. B side is That Certain Party, guitarist is none other is Al Caiola .Somehow I can picture Owen Bradley producing these sessions.
10) The Stroll-The Lancers (Coral 9-61930) 1957
Of course, The Diamonds had the better known hit, but it did sounds like Mickey Baker played guitar on this version by the Lancers. Neely Plumb arranged this, he'd later become a producer for RCA and gave us Hugo Montgergo's Good, Bad And Ugly. B side Jo Ann is cover originally done by The Playmates, which is a bit more lively than The Playmates. If you really care.
11) I Can't Help It-Margaret Whiting (Dot 45-15680) #74 1958
Probably the only batch of forty fives that made the charts, this is Margaret's only Dot single on the top 100. She could do country but being stuck with Vaughn Monroe's arrangements turns this more into MOR than country. B side That's Why I Was Born, is a cover of the Janice Harper number. A bit too over the top for Margaret to pull this off.
12) Since You Went Away From Me-Sandy Stewart (Okeh 4-6941) #23 1953
Best known for the number 20 My Coloring Book, Sandy brings a bit of moodiness to a spare Joe Reisman's arrangement. B side Before, goes too much in the MOR well for me to care.
13) The Auctioneer-Leroy Van Dyke (Dot 45-15503) #19 1956
Of course, Walk On By gave him a big hit in 1961 but this is the song that Leroy is best known for. The original version is hillbilly country gold. And he was an auctioneer before hand too. Andy Nelson plays guitar, (no relation to Willie ya know) I Fell In Love With A Poni Tail is the B side.
14) Wait Little Darling-Kay Cee Jones (Decca 9-30020) 1956
She scored with the Japanese Farewell Song in 1955. This was her first single for Decca, however, the rumor had it that the b side The Gypsy Fortune Teller was then picked to be the a side. Neither song charted. I think I like Wait Little Darling a bit more.
15) Looking For Someone To Love-Jerri Adams (Columbia 4-40992) 1957
Jerri was a dead-ringer for Doris Day's singing and she was Doris' label and used Ray Conniff. I'm All Right Now borrows the tapdance that Archie Breyer used for The Cordettes at the beginning, then Ray's arrangements turns it more into country. Conniff's vocal group turns it back to MOR, in a way.
16) This Little Girl's Gone Rockin'-Ruth Brown (Atlantic 45-1197) #24 1958
The find of the bargain hunt. Includes the original Atlantic sleeve. Bobby Darin and King Curtis wrote this, and Curtis plays sax, Micky Baker on guitar. Ruth Brown remains one of the underrated Atlantic soul singers and this song proves she can rock with the best of them. Record hunters are always on the prowl looking for old Atlantic singles of the 50s and 60s, but it is a rare occasion to find the singles that are still in good shape. B side Why Me returns Ruth back into hard core R and B blues.
17) It's An Open Secret-The Joy Strings (Atco 45-6292) 1964 (#32 UK)
The off the wall find was this one off for Atco by The Joystrings, led by Joy Webb. A UK band basically part of the Salvation Army band, they were UK Christian folk/rock tho I use the rock term very loosely. Perhaps the most gospel of recordings for Atlantic/Atco (this was leased from EMI actually, they were on Regal Zonophone in the UK). The last Atco single I found was Johnny Milton which was more polka jazz, but back then Atlantic would find odd ball stuff from Bent Fabric, Mr. Acker Bilk and Jorge Imgerson and stash them on the Atco label. The Joy Strings would have one more single in the states (on Epic) and basically stayed on the other side of the pond.
This monthly foray into the Quad Cities once again yielded some decent finds and not so much decent finds either. I found the Zappa Apostrophe'/Overnight Sensation 2 on 1 Cd on Rykodisc as well as Synergy/The Jupiter Menace, The Vogues Greatest Hits, Best Of Jesse Winchester, and King Crimson Islands for a dollar apiece. The not so great was Kacey Chambers/Wayward Angel (I had that once and donated it) and American Authors Oh, What A Life. Plus I got to take part of the Pub 1848 Acoustic Jam later that evening. Co Op Moline still didn't have the new Neil Young Home Grown album, and I passed on I can't sit still by Don Henley and Do You Love Me by the Countours since the line at the Goodwill in Bettendorf was crowded and I didn't feel like waiting. All of the records mentioned came from Moline's Goodwill, after somebody donated a bunch of late 50s pop standards. I cherry picked the best out the bunch just to hear them. I suspect once Ragged Records open their doors, I'll be back but I did promised Sean Ryan, the host of the Pub 1848 jam that I would return soon.
As with the majority of these songs, I have no clue how they sound, I just went with a feeling that I might find something of value to listen to. Most of these artists were minor, except for Ruth Brown and Ted Taylor. As with dated 50's big band production, these were the sounds of the times, all the way down to Vaughn Monroe's muzak arrangements. The majority of these are still keepers, the lesser known an experiment not to hit the reject button. That's how it goes when you look at old 50s records. Keeping an open mind always works.
1) Amstel Beer Calypso-Jamaica Johnny (Phillips 399 146 DF) 1957
Jamaica Johnny made a bunch of singles in the late 50s, mostly via Phillips Netherlands but I never seen a picture sleeve of this before. A product of the times Amstel is noted for the first imported dutch beer. Heineken bought them out in 1968 and closed the dutch brewery down, but it's still going strong. If you can handle the aftertaste tho.
2) Stan The Man-Steve Bledsoe and the blue jays (Scope 1961x45) 1958
Stan Musial, one of the greatest all time St Louis Cardinals ever gets a country song named for him. B side Peabody's Tomb is a novel rockabilly number complete with a crazy baritone singer to boot.
3) Shepherd Of The Stars-Dick Noel (Fraternity F-788) 1957
Best known for covering Hot Dog That Made Her Mad (Wanda Jackson had a bigger hit with her version) Noel was a pop crooner somewhat in a Perry Como vein or a not so rowdy Al Martino. Maybe the b side Moonlight In Mexico was the hit. Who cares anyway?
4) Jealous-Danny Kellarney (Fraternity F-783) 1957
One of two singles Danny recorded for Fraternity, basically in the style of Guy Mitchell and Ray Conniff productions. Songs this paranoid shouldn't be so happy and bouncy. You Can't Fool An Angel is B side pop nonsense.
5) Two Ways-Shirley Norwood (Fraternity F-789) 1957
Another unknown pop singer of the 50s, Shirley probably best known for Two Hearts (with an arrow between), this is the first of two forgotten singles for Fraternity. The annoying accordion didn't help things. Take My Heart is more annoying accordion and pop muzak vocals.
6) Days Are Dark-Ted Taylor (Ebb 113) 1957
After going through 4 pop standards, we get lowdown in the R and B from Ted Taylor, who has a career recording for various labels in his career, mostly for Ronn/Jewel in the 60s. Days Are Dark have that perfect r and b shuffle. Everywhere I go, is uptempo rock, Taylor sings in a Little Willie John vein. A keeper.
7) Pretend You Don't See Her-Steve Allen (Coral 9-61909) 1957
Light muzak jazz from Allen. As well as I Still Haven't Got Him.
8) When You Return-Tony Williams (Mercury 71158x45) 1957
The voice of The Platters tries for a solo career, trading the Platters for a orchestra but still under Buck Ram's production. In the long run, Johnny Mathis and Al Hibbler had him beat, simply of better songs or arrangments. The failure of this song put Williams back to the Platters till 1961 when he tried again for a solo career and had some singles on Reprise and Phillips. B side Let's Start All Over Again is more MOR Hogwash.
9) San-Terry Snyder And His Rhythm (Coral 9-61901) 1957
Later covered by Chet Atkins and Tom Tomilinson and Jerry Kennedy, it's a country slated rockabilly number. I have a soft spot for instrumentals like this song. B side is That Certain Party, guitarist is none other is Al Caiola .Somehow I can picture Owen Bradley producing these sessions.
10) The Stroll-The Lancers (Coral 9-61930) 1957
Of course, The Diamonds had the better known hit, but it did sounds like Mickey Baker played guitar on this version by the Lancers. Neely Plumb arranged this, he'd later become a producer for RCA and gave us Hugo Montgergo's Good, Bad And Ugly. B side Jo Ann is cover originally done by The Playmates, which is a bit more lively than The Playmates. If you really care.
11) I Can't Help It-Margaret Whiting (Dot 45-15680) #74 1958
Probably the only batch of forty fives that made the charts, this is Margaret's only Dot single on the top 100. She could do country but being stuck with Vaughn Monroe's arrangements turns this more into MOR than country. B side That's Why I Was Born, is a cover of the Janice Harper number. A bit too over the top for Margaret to pull this off.
12) Since You Went Away From Me-Sandy Stewart (Okeh 4-6941) #23 1953
Best known for the number 20 My Coloring Book, Sandy brings a bit of moodiness to a spare Joe Reisman's arrangement. B side Before, goes too much in the MOR well for me to care.
13) The Auctioneer-Leroy Van Dyke (Dot 45-15503) #19 1956
Of course, Walk On By gave him a big hit in 1961 but this is the song that Leroy is best known for. The original version is hillbilly country gold. And he was an auctioneer before hand too. Andy Nelson plays guitar, (no relation to Willie ya know) I Fell In Love With A Poni Tail is the B side.
14) Wait Little Darling-Kay Cee Jones (Decca 9-30020) 1956
She scored with the Japanese Farewell Song in 1955. This was her first single for Decca, however, the rumor had it that the b side The Gypsy Fortune Teller was then picked to be the a side. Neither song charted. I think I like Wait Little Darling a bit more.
15) Looking For Someone To Love-Jerri Adams (Columbia 4-40992) 1957
Jerri was a dead-ringer for Doris Day's singing and she was Doris' label and used Ray Conniff. I'm All Right Now borrows the tapdance that Archie Breyer used for The Cordettes at the beginning, then Ray's arrangements turns it more into country. Conniff's vocal group turns it back to MOR, in a way.
16) This Little Girl's Gone Rockin'-Ruth Brown (Atlantic 45-1197) #24 1958
The find of the bargain hunt. Includes the original Atlantic sleeve. Bobby Darin and King Curtis wrote this, and Curtis plays sax, Micky Baker on guitar. Ruth Brown remains one of the underrated Atlantic soul singers and this song proves she can rock with the best of them. Record hunters are always on the prowl looking for old Atlantic singles of the 50s and 60s, but it is a rare occasion to find the singles that are still in good shape. B side Why Me returns Ruth back into hard core R and B blues.
17) It's An Open Secret-The Joy Strings (Atco 45-6292) 1964 (#32 UK)
The off the wall find was this one off for Atco by The Joystrings, led by Joy Webb. A UK band basically part of the Salvation Army band, they were UK Christian folk/rock tho I use the rock term very loosely. Perhaps the most gospel of recordings for Atlantic/Atco (this was leased from EMI actually, they were on Regal Zonophone in the UK). The last Atco single I found was Johnny Milton which was more polka jazz, but back then Atlantic would find odd ball stuff from Bent Fabric, Mr. Acker Bilk and Jorge Imgerson and stash them on the Atco label. The Joy Strings would have one more single in the states (on Epic) and basically stayed on the other side of the pond.
This monthly foray into the Quad Cities once again yielded some decent finds and not so much decent finds either. I found the Zappa Apostrophe'/Overnight Sensation 2 on 1 Cd on Rykodisc as well as Synergy/The Jupiter Menace, The Vogues Greatest Hits, Best Of Jesse Winchester, and King Crimson Islands for a dollar apiece. The not so great was Kacey Chambers/Wayward Angel (I had that once and donated it) and American Authors Oh, What A Life. Plus I got to take part of the Pub 1848 Acoustic Jam later that evening. Co Op Moline still didn't have the new Neil Young Home Grown album, and I passed on I can't sit still by Don Henley and Do You Love Me by the Countours since the line at the Goodwill in Bettendorf was crowded and I didn't feel like waiting. All of the records mentioned came from Moline's Goodwill, after somebody donated a bunch of late 50s pop standards. I cherry picked the best out the bunch just to hear them. I suspect once Ragged Records open their doors, I'll be back but I did promised Sean Ryan, the host of the Pub 1848 jam that I would return soon.
Thursday, July 9, 2020
XTC-By Joe Jackson
I'm going to finish with something that's not only What I'm Listening To but an Appreciation I've been wanting to write for a long time. There are two kinds of people in this world: XTC fans and, well, the rest of you, who might want to skip this.
One of my favourite down-time pleasures over the last few months has been re-listening to pretty much everything this un-classifiable band did on their dozen albums from 1978 to 2000, while also dipping into the two essential books, XTC – Song Stories, by the band themselves with Neville Farmer, and Complicated Game – Inside the Songs of XTC, in which Andy Partridge talks to Todd Bernhardt about a selection of his songs while going off on endless fascinating and hilarious tangents. Andy is a very funny guy, who buzzes with enough ideas for a dozen bands. It's a kind of miracle that this one also found room for Colin Moulding, a less prolific but fine songwriter, whose three or four tracks per album I always looked forward to. He was the George Harrison of XTC, with a bit of Paul thrown in, and an exceptional bassist to boot.
With the luxury of hindsight (not to mention presumptuousness) it strikes me now that XTC's work can be divided roughly into four periods. On the first two albums, White Music and Go 2, they sound like a snotty young pop-punk outfit trying to create a retro-futuristic soundtrack for The Jetsons, but with some great tunes. Listen more closely, though, and you could imagine them getting much more interesting over time. Which, of course, they did.
The second period begins with the departure of keyboardist Barry Andrews and the recruitment of Dave Gregory, mainly a guitarist but also a pianist, arranger, and all-rounder with the skills needed for a band growing more ambitious by the day. Now a formidable live gigging machine, they toughened up their sound, while writing songs that were somehow both more solid and more sophisticated, on Drums And Wires and especially Black Sea—a critical and commercial hit and still a lot of people's favourite XTC album.
Their next release, the fascinating and adventurous double album English Settlement, seems to me to have one foot in that second period and one in their third, in which they retired from the road, causing drummer Terry Chambers to quit—from then on, they would use a different drummer on each album (the best, for my money, being Dave Mattacks on Nonsuch). XTC became an ever-more creative studio band, with Mummer showing a more reflective, acoustic, pastoral side, and The Big Express its noisier counterpart. This is their transitional period, and I remember thinking at the time that although there were plenty of brilliant moments, the express might just be running out of steam a bit.
I couldn't have been more wrong, because Skylarking—despite its well-known 'difficult' beginnings with producer Todd Rundgren—turned out to be a masterpiece. It was the start of XTC's mature period, in which they surpassed expectations (well, mine, anyway) to produce work which was no longer just clever and fun but often moving and inspiring. (Skylarking was also probably Colin's finest hour, with five great songs). How do you follow a masterpiece? In this case, with the big, bright, shiny and confident Oranges and Lemons, their second double album, about which I remember thinking at the time: the bastards, they've done it again!
I'm not sure, after that, whether anyone was quite prepared for yet another double album, but Nonsuch, while perhaps less immediately accessible, is a treasure trove to be dipped into again and again. Picking a favourite XTC album feels a bit like having my fingernails pulled out, but if I really, really had to, this would—tentatively, possibly, maybe, perhaps—be it.
Then came a five-year hiatus in which the band dealt with various personal crises while fighting their way out of their unhappy relationship with Virgin Records. They reconvened with an unmanageable pile of songs and, logically enough, decided to split them into two piles. Apple Venus is rather serious and very beautiful, taking XTC's acoustic/orchestral leanings to new heights. Wasp Star (Apple Venus Part 2) is simpler, happier, and more 'back to basics'. Taken together, they stand with XTC's very best work, but I can't help feeling that releasing them as two contrasting albums, a year apart, took something away from each. Though I'm not sure if that's really what's bothering me, so much as the retrospective melancholy of knowing that this project would be their last.
XTC seem to be gone for good, but to quote Spinal Tap (which Andy would probably like): Their Legacy Lives On. There are so many things I love about XTC: their misfit awkwardness, their omnipresent humour, their gleeful mishmashing of irresistible pure-pop catchiness and seriously out-there ideas, their creative ambition, all the clever little references to the music they love, and their Englishness—a very particular timeless, rural and small-town, rather than London-cool, Englishness. I could say much more; I haven't even mentioned any individual songs, because if I started, I wouldn't know where to stop. And like most of what I've written about music, this is just an appreciation, and a signpost for anyone who's interested. Which they should be.
Counterpoint: I stumbled across XTC via a promo RSO cutout of the 1980 album Black Sea from Record Realm. To which the record came in a green paper sack aka In Through The Out Door. This was my introduction to XTC, the quirky Respectable Street and Generals And Majors. At first I disdain the plodding No Language In Our Lungs or Sgt Rock is gonna help us and called it trash. But like Wire 154, there was something so good about the songs and the way they were constructed that they all fit in like a puzzle. The album got better with each play.
American labels couldn't figure out XTC. By the time Black Sea was issued, RSO was ready for the history books and Epic came along to chop English Settlement in half and basically they picked the best songs for that album but English Settlement worked better as a double album. To my ears, when Barry Andrews left and David Gregory joined up, XTC made their best work beginning with Drums And Wires through English Settlement. When Andy Partridge decided to stay home and not tour, Terry Chambers, their drummer moved on. Which led to the confusing Mummer and so so Big Express, to which Geffen replaced Epic for the American releases. Getting back to Barry Andrews, with him on the first two albums, showed XTC more art pop weirdness. White Music was the better of the two albums he was on. He later would become the de facto leader of Shriekback, which was more into a dance type rock with Dave Allen (Gang Of Four). And was better suited for him.
XTC found something special with Skylarking, which some have claimed to be their over all best. To me, it's a distance fourth compared to the trio of albums they did with Drums And Wires, Black Sea and English Settlement. While Partridge was the main songwriter, Colin Moulding's contributions cannot be overlooked; in fact I found his songs to be a bit of relief compared to Partridge's songs at times. King Of Simpleton from the 1989 Orange And Lemons is damn near perfect power pop UK style, but I found the album to be quite overlong. With Nonesuch, Dave Mattacks played drums, Gus Dudegon produced and was a small rebound. For best ofs, Some Singles has less filler than Upsy Daisy Assortment, which is the better overview. But, the song selection is different than the CD version. The Dukes Of Stratsofear albums shows XTC in their Psychedelia 60s freakbeat best.
In a nutshell, XTC turned out to be one of my better liked bands of the 80s, tho Partridge's stuffiness gets to be too quirky. Drums And Wires seems to be more of a go to album for me, but I'll swear by Black Sea and English Settlement as well.
XTC albums (Incomplete)
White Music (Virgin 1977) B+
Go 2 (Virgin 1978) B-
Drums And Wires (Virgin 1979) A-
Black Sea (Virgin 1980) A
English Settlement (Virgin 1981) A-
Some Singles (Virgin 1982) A-
Mummer (Geffen 1983) B-
The Big Express (Geffen 1984) B
Chips From The Chocolate Fireball (Caroline 1986) B+
Skylarking (Geffen 1987) A-
Orange And Lemons (Geffen 1989) B
Nonesuch (Virgin 1992) B-
Upsy Daisy Assortment (Geffen 1998) B+
Apple Venus vol 1 (Cooking Vinyl 1999) B
Wasp Star (Apple Venus 2) (Cooking Vinyl 2000) B-
https://www.loudersound.com/features/xtc-albums-ranked-from-worst-to-best-the-ultimate-guide
John Helm-Beaker Street Warmup (KCCK)
Boogie Music-Canned Heat
You Don't Love Me-Allman Brothers
Nick Danger-Firesign Theater.
Beaker St. Playlist (From Tyler Vincent)
One of my favourite down-time pleasures over the last few months has been re-listening to pretty much everything this un-classifiable band did on their dozen albums from 1978 to 2000, while also dipping into the two essential books, XTC – Song Stories, by the band themselves with Neville Farmer, and Complicated Game – Inside the Songs of XTC, in which Andy Partridge talks to Todd Bernhardt about a selection of his songs while going off on endless fascinating and hilarious tangents. Andy is a very funny guy, who buzzes with enough ideas for a dozen bands. It's a kind of miracle that this one also found room for Colin Moulding, a less prolific but fine songwriter, whose three or four tracks per album I always looked forward to. He was the George Harrison of XTC, with a bit of Paul thrown in, and an exceptional bassist to boot.
With the luxury of hindsight (not to mention presumptuousness) it strikes me now that XTC's work can be divided roughly into four periods. On the first two albums, White Music and Go 2, they sound like a snotty young pop-punk outfit trying to create a retro-futuristic soundtrack for The Jetsons, but with some great tunes. Listen more closely, though, and you could imagine them getting much more interesting over time. Which, of course, they did.
The second period begins with the departure of keyboardist Barry Andrews and the recruitment of Dave Gregory, mainly a guitarist but also a pianist, arranger, and all-rounder with the skills needed for a band growing more ambitious by the day. Now a formidable live gigging machine, they toughened up their sound, while writing songs that were somehow both more solid and more sophisticated, on Drums And Wires and especially Black Sea—a critical and commercial hit and still a lot of people's favourite XTC album.
Their next release, the fascinating and adventurous double album English Settlement, seems to me to have one foot in that second period and one in their third, in which they retired from the road, causing drummer Terry Chambers to quit—from then on, they would use a different drummer on each album (the best, for my money, being Dave Mattacks on Nonsuch). XTC became an ever-more creative studio band, with Mummer showing a more reflective, acoustic, pastoral side, and The Big Express its noisier counterpart. This is their transitional period, and I remember thinking at the time that although there were plenty of brilliant moments, the express might just be running out of steam a bit.
I couldn't have been more wrong, because Skylarking—despite its well-known 'difficult' beginnings with producer Todd Rundgren—turned out to be a masterpiece. It was the start of XTC's mature period, in which they surpassed expectations (well, mine, anyway) to produce work which was no longer just clever and fun but often moving and inspiring. (Skylarking was also probably Colin's finest hour, with five great songs). How do you follow a masterpiece? In this case, with the big, bright, shiny and confident Oranges and Lemons, their second double album, about which I remember thinking at the time: the bastards, they've done it again!
I'm not sure, after that, whether anyone was quite prepared for yet another double album, but Nonsuch, while perhaps less immediately accessible, is a treasure trove to be dipped into again and again. Picking a favourite XTC album feels a bit like having my fingernails pulled out, but if I really, really had to, this would—tentatively, possibly, maybe, perhaps—be it.
Then came a five-year hiatus in which the band dealt with various personal crises while fighting their way out of their unhappy relationship with Virgin Records. They reconvened with an unmanageable pile of songs and, logically enough, decided to split them into two piles. Apple Venus is rather serious and very beautiful, taking XTC's acoustic/orchestral leanings to new heights. Wasp Star (Apple Venus Part 2) is simpler, happier, and more 'back to basics'. Taken together, they stand with XTC's very best work, but I can't help feeling that releasing them as two contrasting albums, a year apart, took something away from each. Though I'm not sure if that's really what's bothering me, so much as the retrospective melancholy of knowing that this project would be their last.
XTC seem to be gone for good, but to quote Spinal Tap (which Andy would probably like): Their Legacy Lives On. There are so many things I love about XTC: their misfit awkwardness, their omnipresent humour, their gleeful mishmashing of irresistible pure-pop catchiness and seriously out-there ideas, their creative ambition, all the clever little references to the music they love, and their Englishness—a very particular timeless, rural and small-town, rather than London-cool, Englishness. I could say much more; I haven't even mentioned any individual songs, because if I started, I wouldn't know where to stop. And like most of what I've written about music, this is just an appreciation, and a signpost for anyone who's interested. Which they should be.
Counterpoint: I stumbled across XTC via a promo RSO cutout of the 1980 album Black Sea from Record Realm. To which the record came in a green paper sack aka In Through The Out Door. This was my introduction to XTC, the quirky Respectable Street and Generals And Majors. At first I disdain the plodding No Language In Our Lungs or Sgt Rock is gonna help us and called it trash. But like Wire 154, there was something so good about the songs and the way they were constructed that they all fit in like a puzzle. The album got better with each play.
American labels couldn't figure out XTC. By the time Black Sea was issued, RSO was ready for the history books and Epic came along to chop English Settlement in half and basically they picked the best songs for that album but English Settlement worked better as a double album. To my ears, when Barry Andrews left and David Gregory joined up, XTC made their best work beginning with Drums And Wires through English Settlement. When Andy Partridge decided to stay home and not tour, Terry Chambers, their drummer moved on. Which led to the confusing Mummer and so so Big Express, to which Geffen replaced Epic for the American releases. Getting back to Barry Andrews, with him on the first two albums, showed XTC more art pop weirdness. White Music was the better of the two albums he was on. He later would become the de facto leader of Shriekback, which was more into a dance type rock with Dave Allen (Gang Of Four). And was better suited for him.
XTC found something special with Skylarking, which some have claimed to be their over all best. To me, it's a distance fourth compared to the trio of albums they did with Drums And Wires, Black Sea and English Settlement. While Partridge was the main songwriter, Colin Moulding's contributions cannot be overlooked; in fact I found his songs to be a bit of relief compared to Partridge's songs at times. King Of Simpleton from the 1989 Orange And Lemons is damn near perfect power pop UK style, but I found the album to be quite overlong. With Nonesuch, Dave Mattacks played drums, Gus Dudegon produced and was a small rebound. For best ofs, Some Singles has less filler than Upsy Daisy Assortment, which is the better overview. But, the song selection is different than the CD version. The Dukes Of Stratsofear albums shows XTC in their Psychedelia 60s freakbeat best.
In a nutshell, XTC turned out to be one of my better liked bands of the 80s, tho Partridge's stuffiness gets to be too quirky. Drums And Wires seems to be more of a go to album for me, but I'll swear by Black Sea and English Settlement as well.
XTC albums (Incomplete)
White Music (Virgin 1977) B+
Go 2 (Virgin 1978) B-
Drums And Wires (Virgin 1979) A-
Black Sea (Virgin 1980) A
English Settlement (Virgin 1981) A-
Some Singles (Virgin 1982) A-
Mummer (Geffen 1983) B-
The Big Express (Geffen 1984) B
Chips From The Chocolate Fireball (Caroline 1986) B+
Skylarking (Geffen 1987) A-
Orange And Lemons (Geffen 1989) B
Nonesuch (Virgin 1992) B-
Upsy Daisy Assortment (Geffen 1998) B+
Apple Venus vol 1 (Cooking Vinyl 1999) B
Wasp Star (Apple Venus 2) (Cooking Vinyl 2000) B-
https://www.loudersound.com/features/xtc-albums-ranked-from-worst-to-best-the-ultimate-guide
John Helm-Beaker Street Warmup (KCCK)
Boogie Music-Canned Heat
You Don't Love Me-Allman Brothers
Nick Danger-Firesign Theater.
Beaker St. Playlist (From Tyler Vincent)
9 p.m. – 10 p.m.
1. The Allman Brothers Band “True Gravity”
2. Flow “Arlene”
3. The Neville Brothers “Fire On The Mountain”
4. Blind Faith “Do What You Like”
5. Mickey Hart “Only The Strange Remain”
6. Renaissance “Kiev”
7. The Alan Parsons Project “(The System Of) Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether”
10 p.m. – 11 p.m.
1. Within Temptation “In Perfect Harmony”
2. Savoy Brown “Troubled By These Days and Times”
3. String Cheese Incident “Birdland” (Live – Carnival ’99)
4. The Doors “Five To One” (Live In Pittsburgh)
5. Paul Jones, Bobby Tench, Max Middleton, Bob Jenkins and Pete Brown “Albatross” (From the Album “This Is The Blues Volume 2”)
6. The Band “King Harvest (Has Surely Come)”
7. Grateful Dead “I Know You Rider” (Live- Europe ’72)
8. R. Michael Thomas “Pray For The Captain”
9. The Steve Miller Band “Wild Mountain Honey”
11 p.m. – Midnight
1. Wishbone Ash “Ballad Of The Beacon”
2. Steppenwolf “The Pusher”
3. Oingo Boingo “No One Lives Forever” (1988 Boingo Alive Version)
4. Alice Cooper “Second Coming> Ballad of Dwight Fry> Sun Arise”
5. The Rolling Stones “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking”
6. Pink Floyd “Run Like Hell” (Live- Delicate Sound of Thunder)
7. Frank Zappa “Joe’s Garage”
8. Jefferson Airplane “Volunteers”
9. Evanescence “Anywhere”
Friday, July 3, 2020
Cheap Reviews
Catching up on music bought the past couple weeks.
Delta Moon-Cabbagetown (Jumping Jack 2017)
Babylon Is Falling (Jumping Jack 2018)
I can tell when Tom Gray is beginning to settle down in life, by the way he has plenty of covers on Babylon Is Falling and it seems like Tom Petty's Louisiana Rain is getting covered a few times (Samantha Fish did one of her own). Gray has only two of his, plus a third with band participation. Four decades removed from The Brains, Delta Moon is the best of the swamp rock and blues bands from the South but Gray's history of covering Son House and Blind Willie Johnson shows he knows more about the blues than Joe Bonnamossa. The latter day Moon, benefits from Franher Joseph's blues bass guitar and backing vocal, their own Paul Robeson. Of these two albums, Cabbagetown is the better of the two, it has more of Gray's songs than covers tho' Death Letter Blues is a marvel to hear. Rock And Roll Girl, would have been a big hit in 1980 for that other band we all know about. As per usual both albums are worth your time to hear.
B+
The Vogues-Greatest Hits (Rhino 1988)
They were never really garage rock, they owed more to The Four Coins and The Lettermen. The bombast of the 1968 Reprise hits reveals their middle of the road persona and over the top Vegas. I'm sure Rhino could have found some space for God Only Knows or That's The Tune. Or any of the Jimmy Webb penned B sides. However, their claim to fame in rock was Five O'Clock World (original version without the strings) their perfect 2 minute song. Second fave is Hey That's No Way To Say Goodbye, which does Leonard Cohen proud. The Vintage Varese Sarabande best of leaves the Reprise stuff off and probably a better choice, Taragon did have the Reprise albums as 2 on 1 Cd comps (but they are out of print and overpriced). The Rhino compromises on the Co & Ce and Reprise singles. Probably all that a casual fan would need, unless you can get Five O Clock World on a Time Life Comp.
B
Lou Reed Live (RCA 1975)
Leftovers from Rock And Roll Animal, this CD has been reissued a couple times, most recently a bottom line priced cheap CD from Collectibles' Extended Versions series, no different than what BMG was putting out in the 90s. This version of Vicious has been my overall favorite and Lou is going for stand up comedy on Walk On The Wide Side, (he'd would succeed in a way with Take No Prisoners) and the drum boasting on Waiting For The Man is puke inducing but Pentti Glen had a interesting cymbal lineup at that time. Strange to say Oh Jim and Sad Song puts this record into one that you really don't need, tho I prefer Sad Song on this album to the original which went on forever. Kinda of like this version that goes on forever too. Perhaps Vicious should have been on Rock n Roll Animal instead?
B-
Tegan And Sarah-Heartthrob (Vapor/Warner 2013)
Not exactly the first pop stars to be better at sex than love so sayeth Mr. Christgau. One of those albums I found cheap at Goodwill, this is what we call now pop music of the day, tho it was recorded 7 years ago.
B
Smithereens-Attack Of The Smithereens (Capitol 1995)
If anything, these guys loved rock and roll and loved anything from the 60s. judging by half the songs taken from this 79 and half minute CD. Beatles, certainly the Kinks and The Who, tho Pat Dizino's memory lapse makes this less classic as it should be. But they got the Davies to sing together on You Really Got Me, the voice of the Beau Brummels on Just A Little and even Graham Parker to cover Behind The Wall Of Sleep. While Pat has passed on, the guys do bring Marshall Crenshaw on board to sing on occasion. While B sides and rarities tend to be a footnote or for fans only, Attack shows The Smithereens to be a cool bar band. At least they spared us with the Motley Crud and Poison covers.
B+
Stampeders-Sweet City Woman (Bell 1971)
With that clunky banjo riff and side bass note, we get one of those feel good moments from 1971 from a band from Canada that made a country rock album, that went into the cut outs soon after. Bell Records in the 1970s was the Partridge Family label and the Stampeders was their rock act. Outside of the hit single, nothing really stands out, just passable country rock. Collectibles did sweeten the pot with the inclusion of Devil You and Hit The Road Jack, one of the best songs with Wolfman Jack helping out.
B
Joni Mitchell-Both Sides Now (Reprise 2000)
Joni has been a love/hate affair for me. Most of her earlier album bored me and even Hits didn't grab me as much as Court And Spark and perhaps Blue as well. This time, Joni puts the folk rock away, grabs a full orchestra, lights up a few Camels and plods her way through some torch songs of long ago and far away. This album works better if your in a room full of blue light and thick cigarette smoke you can cut with a knife. To which I'll stick with Billie Holliday or Julie London.
B-
American Authors-Oh What A Life (Island 2014)
It's beginning to be obvious that any music after 2005 is going to be a disappointment and as faceless as they come. American Authors can be compared to Munford N Sons, Walk The Sun, Ok Go or the Killers or Boxes era Goo Goo Dolls. Listening to this, there's a reason why I don't pay much attention to new music anymore. It's faceless, no soul and each and every song sounds the same. Some inspiration comes around on Hit it or Believer which might have been played on the radio. But then again, Walk The Sun wore out their welcome on their second album. A.A, wore out their welcome after the sixth song.
C
Beaker St. Playlist 7-3 Tyler Vincent compiled.
9 p.m. – 10 p.m.
1. Deep Purple “Exposition/ We Can Work It Out”
2. Cream “Crossroads” (Live- Wheels of Fire)
3. Fairport Convention “Travelling By Steam”
4. Eric Burdon and the Animals “Monterrey”
5. The James Gang “The Bomber: Closet Queen> Bolero> Cast Your Fate to the Wind”
6. Brand X “Nuclear Burn”
7. Jethro Tull “Teacher”
8. Touch “Seventy Five”
9. Free “All Right Now”
10 p.m. – 11 p.m.
1. Jing Chi “It’s Nobody’s Fault But Mine”
2. Scallion “Dragonfly”
3. The Jimi Hendrix Experience “Red House
4. Jon Butcher Axis “Holy War”
5. Santana “Samba Pa Ti” (Sacred Fire: Live in South America)
6. Acoustic Pagans “Cyrano’s Strut”
7. Leon Russell “This Masquerade”
8. King Crimson “Frame By Frame”
9. Little Feat “Tripe Face Boogie” (Live- Waiting for Columbus)
10. Dixie Dregs “Shapes of Things”
11 p.m. – Midnight
1. Soup “I Might Know Your Name”
2. Mike Oldfield “Five Miles Out”
3. The Doors “The WASP (Texas Radio and The Big Beat)”
4. Savoy Brown “Jack The Toad”
5. Black Oak Arkansas “Lord Have Mercy On My Soul> When Electricity Came To Arkansas”
6. Steppenwolf “Sookie Sookie”
7. Crosby, Stills & Nash “Dark Star”
8. The Doobie Brothers “South City Midnight Lady”
Delta Moon-Cabbagetown (Jumping Jack 2017)
Babylon Is Falling (Jumping Jack 2018)
I can tell when Tom Gray is beginning to settle down in life, by the way he has plenty of covers on Babylon Is Falling and it seems like Tom Petty's Louisiana Rain is getting covered a few times (Samantha Fish did one of her own). Gray has only two of his, plus a third with band participation. Four decades removed from The Brains, Delta Moon is the best of the swamp rock and blues bands from the South but Gray's history of covering Son House and Blind Willie Johnson shows he knows more about the blues than Joe Bonnamossa. The latter day Moon, benefits from Franher Joseph's blues bass guitar and backing vocal, their own Paul Robeson. Of these two albums, Cabbagetown is the better of the two, it has more of Gray's songs than covers tho' Death Letter Blues is a marvel to hear. Rock And Roll Girl, would have been a big hit in 1980 for that other band we all know about. As per usual both albums are worth your time to hear.
B+
The Vogues-Greatest Hits (Rhino 1988)
They were never really garage rock, they owed more to The Four Coins and The Lettermen. The bombast of the 1968 Reprise hits reveals their middle of the road persona and over the top Vegas. I'm sure Rhino could have found some space for God Only Knows or That's The Tune. Or any of the Jimmy Webb penned B sides. However, their claim to fame in rock was Five O'Clock World (original version without the strings) their perfect 2 minute song. Second fave is Hey That's No Way To Say Goodbye, which does Leonard Cohen proud. The Vintage Varese Sarabande best of leaves the Reprise stuff off and probably a better choice, Taragon did have the Reprise albums as 2 on 1 Cd comps (but they are out of print and overpriced). The Rhino compromises on the Co & Ce and Reprise singles. Probably all that a casual fan would need, unless you can get Five O Clock World on a Time Life Comp.
B
Lou Reed Live (RCA 1975)
Leftovers from Rock And Roll Animal, this CD has been reissued a couple times, most recently a bottom line priced cheap CD from Collectibles' Extended Versions series, no different than what BMG was putting out in the 90s. This version of Vicious has been my overall favorite and Lou is going for stand up comedy on Walk On The Wide Side, (he'd would succeed in a way with Take No Prisoners) and the drum boasting on Waiting For The Man is puke inducing but Pentti Glen had a interesting cymbal lineup at that time. Strange to say Oh Jim and Sad Song puts this record into one that you really don't need, tho I prefer Sad Song on this album to the original which went on forever. Kinda of like this version that goes on forever too. Perhaps Vicious should have been on Rock n Roll Animal instead?
B-
Tegan And Sarah-Heartthrob (Vapor/Warner 2013)
Not exactly the first pop stars to be better at sex than love so sayeth Mr. Christgau. One of those albums I found cheap at Goodwill, this is what we call now pop music of the day, tho it was recorded 7 years ago.
B
Smithereens-Attack Of The Smithereens (Capitol 1995)
If anything, these guys loved rock and roll and loved anything from the 60s. judging by half the songs taken from this 79 and half minute CD. Beatles, certainly the Kinks and The Who, tho Pat Dizino's memory lapse makes this less classic as it should be. But they got the Davies to sing together on You Really Got Me, the voice of the Beau Brummels on Just A Little and even Graham Parker to cover Behind The Wall Of Sleep. While Pat has passed on, the guys do bring Marshall Crenshaw on board to sing on occasion. While B sides and rarities tend to be a footnote or for fans only, Attack shows The Smithereens to be a cool bar band. At least they spared us with the Motley Crud and Poison covers.
B+
Stampeders-Sweet City Woman (Bell 1971)
With that clunky banjo riff and side bass note, we get one of those feel good moments from 1971 from a band from Canada that made a country rock album, that went into the cut outs soon after. Bell Records in the 1970s was the Partridge Family label and the Stampeders was their rock act. Outside of the hit single, nothing really stands out, just passable country rock. Collectibles did sweeten the pot with the inclusion of Devil You and Hit The Road Jack, one of the best songs with Wolfman Jack helping out.
B
Joni Mitchell-Both Sides Now (Reprise 2000)
Joni has been a love/hate affair for me. Most of her earlier album bored me and even Hits didn't grab me as much as Court And Spark and perhaps Blue as well. This time, Joni puts the folk rock away, grabs a full orchestra, lights up a few Camels and plods her way through some torch songs of long ago and far away. This album works better if your in a room full of blue light and thick cigarette smoke you can cut with a knife. To which I'll stick with Billie Holliday or Julie London.
B-
American Authors-Oh What A Life (Island 2014)
It's beginning to be obvious that any music after 2005 is going to be a disappointment and as faceless as they come. American Authors can be compared to Munford N Sons, Walk The Sun, Ok Go or the Killers or Boxes era Goo Goo Dolls. Listening to this, there's a reason why I don't pay much attention to new music anymore. It's faceless, no soul and each and every song sounds the same. Some inspiration comes around on Hit it or Believer which might have been played on the radio. But then again, Walk The Sun wore out their welcome on their second album. A.A, wore out their welcome after the sixth song.
C
Beaker St. Playlist 7-3 Tyler Vincent compiled.
9 p.m. – 10 p.m.
1. Deep Purple “Exposition/ We Can Work It Out”
2. Cream “Crossroads” (Live- Wheels of Fire)
3. Fairport Convention “Travelling By Steam”
4. Eric Burdon and the Animals “Monterrey”
5. The James Gang “The Bomber: Closet Queen> Bolero> Cast Your Fate to the Wind”
6. Brand X “Nuclear Burn”
7. Jethro Tull “Teacher”
8. Touch “Seventy Five”
9. Free “All Right Now”
10 p.m. – 11 p.m.
1. Jing Chi “It’s Nobody’s Fault But Mine”
2. Scallion “Dragonfly”
3. The Jimi Hendrix Experience “Red House
4. Jon Butcher Axis “Holy War”
5. Santana “Samba Pa Ti” (Sacred Fire: Live in South America)
6. Acoustic Pagans “Cyrano’s Strut”
7. Leon Russell “This Masquerade”
8. King Crimson “Frame By Frame”
9. Little Feat “Tripe Face Boogie” (Live- Waiting for Columbus)
10. Dixie Dregs “Shapes of Things”
11 p.m. – Midnight
1. Soup “I Might Know Your Name”
2. Mike Oldfield “Five Miles Out”
3. The Doors “The WASP (Texas Radio and The Big Beat)”
4. Savoy Brown “Jack The Toad”
5. Black Oak Arkansas “Lord Have Mercy On My Soul> When Electricity Came To Arkansas”
6. Steppenwolf “Sookie Sookie”
7. Crosby, Stills & Nash “Dark Star”
8. The Doobie Brothers “South City Midnight Lady”
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