Mickster's Dangerous R&R Blog

Welcome

2020-03-27T06:56:00.001-04:00

Welcome to the home of The Dangerous R&R Show radio program....heard Friday evenings on http://www.homegrownradionj.com/ 7-8pm EST with a rebroadcast Saturdays 8-9am.
I did DRR Show on WNTI FM for 16 years renaming it The Soft Machine. Well the DRR Show is near and dear to my heart and I found myself almost saying 'Dangerous' instead of 'Soft'....you dig?.... So a change back was in order....I feel better.

The purpose of this blog is not to make money but to provide a forum for the sharing of records that have either been lost in time or perhaps never had their day in the sun. Enjoy yourself while your here and feel free to add your comments to each post.

I'll be posting 45 rpms, 78 rpms, & LP cuts from records in my collection. Occasional postings from friends and the ever entertaining BILKO BAYZBALL.

See the Broadcast Links below to download audio files via MediaFire and listen to The Soft Machine & The DRR Show at your convenience. Files will be .mp3

Radio Mickster....The Dangerous R&R Show Podcast

2020-03-26T11:25:00.001-04:00

DRR Show Podcast #13....Bo Diddley Beat! & Other Muckity Mucks

2010-05-26T14:27:00.005-04:00

Ok...so here's the deal....you can listen to the podcast via the player[s] on the home page....just click on the "home" button....there won't be another new show until the week of June 6th. Taking some time off and traveling to the family reunion where I hope not too much blood is shed...we're Irish. This weeks show celebrates the Bo Diddley Beat! Bo Did-It if you will. Starting off in BoStyle with Ronnie Hawkins & the Hawks' killer version of "Who do you love" where Robbie Robertson displays some early Telecaster chops that he would duplicate 2 yrs later when the Hawks backed John Hammond, Jr on his groundbreaking "So Many Roads" LP from 1965. Little Walter keeps the drums pounding with an incredible instrumental that doesn't get the attention that it deserves..."Crazy Legs" indeed....Dr. Jack Van Impe waxes poetic on "the beat!" before Hipbone Slim & the Knee Tremblers do the "Diddley Squat" from "What The Shiek Said"......Bo Diddley wails to "Mona", one of the greatest echo-laden vocals evah! The mass comes to fruition when Robert Ward and the Ohio Untouchables "Hot Stuff" lays down a bed for yours truly to comment on the offerings of this Epistle....."skinny-dippin' in the Oil-O-Joy......" Time to shift gears, hop on a plane for Billy Nicols via London laments the loss of the "Girl from New York" from his ultra-rare LP "Would You Believe". Ex Rocket From the Crypt head honcho, Speedo, with his latest band The Night Marchers "Jump in the fire" from their debut "See You In Magic" gets the thumbs up from uber critic, SzQ the lady that keeps all things Mickster grounded... In case you were wondering: "Night Marchers are ghostly apparitions of a band of beings who move with purpose to the beat of primitive pounding drums. Some say they are armed spirit warriors en route to or from battle, toting archaic weaponry and clothed in decorated helmets and cloaks. Other accounts tell of high-ranking alii (ruler) spirits being guided to places of high importance or to welcome new warriors to join in battle. Perhaps these restless souls are looking to reclaim rightful territory, replay a battle gone awry, or avenge their own deaths. Some say the Night Marchers are searching methodically for an entrance into the next world." Jackie Brenston's follow up to what most consider to be the "1st R&R record", "Rocket 88" was "Independent Woman". A pretty cool r&b number that got 'cool' reviews....well the flip of this great 78rpm [only / no 45 rpm versions out there] was credited to Brenston but is really Billy "Red" Love and his band of plunkers....."Juiced" has to be one of the greatest odes to the potation that fuels just about everything from this era of recordings...1951 / Sun Studios / Chess Records release...."now for the rest of the story....." Bo Diddley makes another appearance at the pulpit with his dancin' shoes on..."Bo's Twist" aka "Rockin' Bo" has it's time on the big stage from 1962...Michigan throws in it's $0.02 with The Woolies relentless slam-in-the-face version of "Who do you love" on Dunhill rekids from 1966.... Time for a sermon from Reverend Mick before heading over to France for some Ye Ye doin's via Christine Laume and Jacqueline Perez with "Rouge rouge" & "Go home" respectively... The last offering of the Podcast is a DRR Show staple, Kai Ray's "I want some of that", The Uptowns' "Here she come again" and the incredible, always mind numbing CAN with "Hoolah hoolah" from the reunion of CAN and their 1st singer, Malcolm Mooney from "Rite Time" Thats it for this week...remember that we won't have a new show for a couple of weeks but don't let that stop you from listening to old pods and turning on your friends to the show...hey! someone's got to keep this music alive!. Signing off for this week and with a promise to be back recharged with handfulls of 45's & 78's, Your humble host, Mickster

Psychedelic Time Capsule: Pink Floyd - Obscured By Clouds

2010-03-27T06:55:00.006-04:00

Psychedelic Time Capsule Record Review
Pink Floyd - Obscured By Clouds / La Vallee [Harvest Records 1972]
Cover - Hipgnosis

Personnel:
David Gilmour - guitar / vocals / VCS3 Synth
Nick Mason - drums / percussion
Richard Wright - keyboards / vocals / VCS3 Synth
Roger Waters - bass / vocals / VCS3 Synth

I know what your thinking....this isn't some obscure LP that's nearly impossible to find. Nor is it that elusive rock and roll gem you find at a garage sale hidden amongst Englebert Humperdink's Greatest Hits, Three Dog Night, Seals and Crofts, David Bowie's "Let's Dance" or Christopher Cross......but if you did see it in this box of 70's & 80's dreck a crepuscular ray of light would stream through the "clouds" and despite whatever kind of feelings you have about the totally obnoxious empire of Pink Floyd, listening to Obscured By Clouds would serve as a plausible reason to throw all of those feelings out the window. Why? Because it's probably nothing like the Floyd you've known and heard before, given that your exposure stretches only to the follow up, "Dark Side of the Moon" or 1979's elaborate, band ending"The Wall". During the recording of "The Wall" keyboardist extroadinaire Richard Wright told Roger Waters "to fuck off" when told he had to cut short his Christmas vacation during the recording which prompted Waters to demand Wright's resignation...but that's a whole other story.....

Eagerly placing the stylus along the edge of the faintly scratched LP suddenly the walls begin to 'shake & vibe-er-ate'. The low buzzing of the album's title track builds, while David Gilmour gently (as only he can] picks out a rough-around-the-edges guitar solo seemingly simple, ha ha!! Perfect.... a brilliant opener. If your like me you welcome the slight crackling as the music fades past all of the nitty of the gritty "Introduction", easing into "Burning Bridges," a beautifully mellow track that foreshadows the future signature sound of the Floyd to come. Skip to the next track and you hit "The Gold It's In The..." Yeah, a little bit of an annoying cliffhanger title, but the real gold is the proceeding "Wot's...Uh The Deal," which should be someone's favorite Floyd song. The piano lead in mid-song.... I don't know, it's simply ridiculous, and all the more depressing. God rest your soul, dear Richard.

Side 1 ends on the notion of the instrumental track "Mudmen." Filler? Could be. It's actually pretty satisfying, especially if you choose to listen to the album all the way through. Flip over to side 2 and you'll hit "Childhood's End," another sort of funky-catchy track that serves well as an opener. After that it's a lush free for all with "Free Four," the album's only single and the only one written by Waters exclusively. Can anyone remember any stations playing this?!? "Stay" is the obligatory ballad, echoing a sort of desperate tone, but then again "Obscured by Clouds" was originally recorded as the soundtrack for Barbet Schroeders' La Vallee [The Valley]. At this point in their career, the band were not new to scoring movies. They had already scored the films "More" [another Barbet Schroeder film] and Michelangelo Antonioni's "Zabriskie Point" in 1969 and 1970 respectively. So when they went in to score Vallee, they had a lot more experience and therefore produced a much finer product.

Floyd was already working on The Dark Side of the Moon during this period, but production was interrupted when they travelled to France to score the movie. Nick Mason refers to the project:

"After the success of More, we had agreed to do another sound track for Barbet Schroeder. His new film was called La Vallée and we travelled over to France to record the music in the last week of February... We did the recording with the same method we had employed for More, following a rough cut of the film, using stopwatches for specific cues and creating interlinking musical moods that would be cross-faded to suit the final version... The recording time was extremely tight. We only had two weeks to record the soundtrack with a short amount of time afterwards to turn it into an album."

The album closes on "Absolutely Curtains"....I love the synths and gentle percussions [[the first Pink Floyd album to feature the VCS 3 synthesiser]. An eerie note to conclude the record on, but it no doubt foreshadows the even darker shit that was on it's way as this was actually recorded during the rough construction of "Dark Side Of The Moon"......

The music fades and a sketchy chorus of children appear as a man begins to sing in a foreign language. Nothing new for Pink as they sampled fans at a soccer match on their previous and transitional record "Meddle".

As you can see below Roger Waters was not the primary songwriter or singer for the LP. He was instrumental in the writing process as was David Gilmour & the much underrated Richard Wright.

Track listing:

Side one
1. "Obscured by Clouds" Gilmour, Waters [Instrumental] 3:03
2. "When You're In" Gilmour, Waters, Wright, Mason [Instrumental] 2:30
3. "Burning Bridges" Wright, Waters / Lead vocals: Gilmour, Wright 3:29
4. "The Gold It's in The..." Gilmour, Waters / Lead Vocals: Gilmour 3:07
5. "Wot's... Uh the Deal?" Gilmour, Waters / Lead vocals: Gilmour 5:08
6. "Mudmen" Wright, Gilmour [Instrumental] 4:20

Side two
7. "Childhood's End" Gilmour / Lead vocals: Gilmour 4:31
8. "Free Four" Waters / Lead vocals: Waters 4:15
9. "Stay" Waters, Wright / Lead vocals: Wright 4:05
10. "Absolutely Curtains" Gilmour, Waters, Wright, Mason [Instrumental] 5:52

Obscured by Clouds was issued in June, 1972 -- seven months after "Meddle", nine months before "Dark Side of the Moon", the tail-end of Pink Floyd's prolific epoch.

All in all not their best but essential for Floyd fans as it layed the groundwork for "Darkside of the Moon" / "Wish You Were Here" and the aformentioned "The Wall".

The Honeycombs - Can't Get Through To You

2009-03-07T19:42:00.008-05:00

The Honeycombs - Can't get through to you [Warner Brothers 1965]

One night a group, known then as The Sheratons, was playing in a London pub, The Mildmay Tavern in the Balls Pond Road. In the audience were Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley, a very prolific British songwriting team, who later wrote hits for such artists as Lulu, Elvis Presley, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich and Petula Clark. Howard and Blaikley, then working in production for BBC Television, liked what they saw and suggested the band might like to hear some of their material. The band had an upcoming audition with indie record producer Joe Meek, whom most notably had produced The Tornados, and composed their number one hit ("Telstar") in 1962, and were eager for some new material. At the audition in Meek's studio in Holloway Road, they played Howard and Blaikley's "Have I the Right?" which Meek recorded.

Have I The Right?" hit number one in the UK and number five in the U.S. in the autumn of 1964 shortly after the start of the British Invasion. They were especially successful in Sweden (four consecutive number ones) and in Japan (where they issued a live album entitled, In Tokyo). Honey Lantree was an accomplished drummer and the star attraction of the group as she was one of very few female drummers at the time. The unique and heavily compressed bass drum sound on "Have I The Right?", which many other drummers of the period tried to replicate, was augmented by the group stamping on the stairs of Meek's studio. Meek achieved this by placing four microphones attached with bicycle clips under the stairs.

The group's founder Martin Murray had worked as a hairdresser, Honey Lantree being his assistant. They decided to combine his profession with the name of the drummer, and changed their name to The Honeycombs. They were signed to the Pye record label.

After proving a 'sleeper' for seven weeks the record took off in the summer of 1964 reaching the number one spot around the world
and selling over 2 million records. It was Meek's final hit in the
United States, where it was issued on the Interphon label (a Vee Jay label).

Listen to this Joe Meek penned b-side and get ready for an assault on your senses....

The Honeycombs Can't get through to you

Yaphet Koto - Have You Ever Seen The Blues?

2009-03-07T19:34:00.005-05:00

Yaphet Koto - Have you ever seen the blues? [Chisa 1968]

A great actor who unfortunately came up when the Hollywood system allowed for only one or two Black actors to play prominent roles in marque movies. Had Kotto started in the 1990s, you would know his name as well as you know Jamie Foxx, Denzel Washington, and Samuel Jackson. But as it is, Yaphet Kotto remains a cult figure known mostly for his role as the best Bond villain, Dr. Karanga AKA Mr. Big, from Live & Let Die. Kotto fans thrill every time they see him show up in a bit role on TV or as a character in a movie.

Kotto did this jazz poetry blast back in '68, and it comes off as a bit less Burn Baby, Burn than The Last Poets. Perhaps that is because Kotto is the son of a Cameroonian prince! And his producer on this is fellow African Hugh Masekela. Coming from Africa and seeing the plight of American Blacks in the 1960s, especially the institutionalized poverty, is a bit different than living it. So maybe that is why Kotto doesn't spit the same rage as The Last Poets......or maybe he is just a different cat.

Man, I don't wanna kill your buzz so forget that jive for a second and check out Kotto's Beat-inspired 'try (as in poe'try).

Yaphet Koto Have you ever seen the blues?

Young Jessie - Don't Think I Will

2009-03-07T19:20:00.004-05:00

Young Jessie - Don't think I will [Modern 1955]

Young Jessie, was born Obediah Donnell "Obie" Jessie on December 28, 1936, in Lincoln Manor, Dallas, Texas.

Jessie's father was a cook but had no musical background. His
mother, Malinda (née Harris) had a brief musical career playing piano under the name Plunky Harris. On his mother's side of the family, Jessie was also kin to blues musician Blind Lemon Jefferson.

Best known as the writer of his original "Mary Lou," [later covered by Ronnie Hawkins in 1959, Bob Seger in 1976, Gene Clark in 1977 and The Oblivians in 1997] as well as a stint in The Flairs in the early 1950s and The Coasters in 1957 singing lead on "Searchin'" and "Young Blood".

He made several solo singles in the 1950s and 1960s. He would later release a couple of jazz albums under the name Obie Jessie.

His younger brother DeWayne Jessie became an actor and
became well known as Otis Day in the film National Lampoon's
Animal House.

Check out the other side of "Mary Lou" a killer "doomba, doomba, dooma doom" with the great Mickey Baker on guitar.

Young Jessie Don't think I will

'Cile Turner - Crap Shootin' Sinner

2009-03-01T16:28:00.006-05:00

'Cile Turner - Crap Shootin' Sinner [Colonial '59]

"Lucile ('Cile) Turner, a young singer from southern Virginia, became fascinated with African-American music while attending the New England Conservatory of Music in the mid-1910s There she attracted attention by singing African-American folk songs and spirituals she had learned as a child from workers on her parents' farm.

By the 1920s, she was touring the Eastern United States giving programs of "Songs from the South," later hosting a popular weekly fifteen-minute radio program on NBC's coast-to-coast network. What began as a hobby for Turner evolved into a full-time profession for the next forty years as she traveled through the South collecting African-American songs and stories to present on radio, records, live performances, and later on her own syndicated television show.

In December 1959, her somewhat creepy 45 "Crap Shootin' Sinner" and "The Golden Rule" made the Cash Box Top 100, and several others received special mention in Billboard Magazine.

'Cile Turner Crap Shootin' Sinner

Eugene White - They Didn't Really Go To The Moon [Pt's 1&2]

2009-03-01T16:00:00.006-05:00

Eugene White - They Didn't Really Go To The Moon, pts 1&2 [Royal American]

How, where, why???? All good questions that come to mind when you listen to this slab of conspiracy theory, made-up-on-the-spot, explanation by one Eugene White...a grammar school drop-out for sure. He's got an explanation for just about everything his deer-in the-headlights buddy can throw at him.

I'm not sure when this was recorded but it had to be 1969 or later. Part 1 is on side A and part 2 on side B....I joined them so you could have an uninterrupted listening experience...whew!

The scary side of the whole thing is that the label says:

From the album "They Didn't Really Go To The Moon"

A whole LP of opinions from the man who almost made me wet my pants, Eugene White.

Eugene White They Didn't Really Go To The Moon

The Persuaders [Hollywood Persuaders] - Grunion Run

2009-03-01T15:33:00.004-05:00

The Persuaders - Grunion Run [Original Sound 1963]

Around the same time that Frank Zappa was honing his doo-wop chops [See previous post / The Penguins - Memories of El Monte] he was also working with some of the local bands....one band was The Hollywood Persuaders....I don't know if they dropped the "Hollywood" or added it as I have another of their 45's "Drums A-Go-Go that is credited to The Hollywood Persuaders. I guess I could check the #'s but is it really necessary? Just check out Zappa's guitar on this slab of surf/psych!! Awesome.

What they are: Grunion are small sardine-shaped silvery fish that ride the waves in Del Mar City Beach, La Jolla Shores, Mission Beach and Silver Strand Beach up onto the sand to procreate, making for a veritable sea of squirming 4-8 inch fish out of water.

The deal is: The female grunion buries herself in the sand to lay her eggs and the male wraps himself around her to fertilize them--a female's eggs might be fertilized by up to eight males in one night. Then they wait for a wave to take them back out to sea.

The Persuaders Grunion Run

Zappa: The Penguins - Memories of El Monte

2009-02-28T08:02:00.010-05:00

The Penguins - Memories of El Monte [Original Sound 1963]

Written by Frank Zappa & Ray Collins recalling the groups who performed at El Monte Legion Stadium. Although credited to The Penguins only Cleve Duncan remained from the original group which had a hit with "Earth Angel" ten years earlier and broke up around 1959.

Zappa described the other vocalists as "a bunch of guys from the car wash" but they were El Monte Legion Stadium favorites...The Viceroys.

"The very first tunes that I wrote were 50's doo wop, Memories Of El Monte, and stuff like that. It's always been my contention that the music that was happening during the 50's has been one of the
finest things that ever happened to American music and I loved it. I could sit down and write a hundred more of the 1950's type songs
right now, and enjoy every minute of it."
Frank Zappa - In His Own Words (1974)

The record was recorded at Paul Buff's studio in Ccamonga, California. Paul Conrad Buff grew up in Cucamonga. Joining the Marine Corps, after graduating, he trained in aviation electronics. He returned to civilian life and took a job making parts for guided missiles at General Dynamics. After a few months at the "Bomb factory", as FZ would refer to it, he was bored with his job so he borrowed $1000 and, knowing nothing about the music business, set up the Pal recording studio in Cucamonga. Recording studios were usually controlled by the big record companies at that time so he could offer a cheaper alternative for would-be bands to record. His lack of knowledge and finance meant that the studio produced a different sound from the major studios which became known as the "Pal Sound". He worked with groups such as the Surfaris ("Wipe Out"), The Chantays ("Pipeline"), and many others.

The Penguins Memories of El Monte

Otis Spann's 1st Solo Record

2009-02-04T09:55:00.013-05:00

An integral member of the non-pareil Muddy Waters band of the 1950s and 1960s, pianist Otis Spann took his sweet time in launching a full-fledged solo career. But his own discography is a satisfying one nonetheless, offering ample proof as to why so many aficionados considered him then and now as Chicago's leading postwar blues pianist. Spann played on most of Waters' classic Chess waxings between 1953 and 1969, his rippling 88s providing the drive on Waters's seminal 1960 live version of "Got My Mojo Working" (cut at the prestigious Newport Jazz Festival, where Spann dazzled the assembled throng with some sensational storming boogies). The Mississippi native began playing piano by age eight, influenced by local ivories stalwart Friday Ford. At 14, he was playing in bands around Jackson, finding more inspiration in the 78s of Big Maceo, who took the young pianist under his wing once Spann migrated to Chicago in 1946 or 1947. Spann gigged on his own and with guitarist Morris Pejoe before hooking up with Waters in 1952. His first Chess date behind the Chicago icon the next year produced "Blow Wind Blow." Subsequent Waters classics sporting Spann's ivories include "Hoochie Coochie Man," "I'm Ready," and "Just Make Love to Me." Strangely, Chess somehow failed to recognize Spann's vocal abilities. His own Chess output was limited to a 1954 single, "It Must Have Been the Devil," that featured B.B. King on guitar, and sessions in 1956 and 1963 that remained in the can for decades. So Spann looked elsewhere, waxing a stunning album for Candid with guitarist Robert Jr. Lockwood in 1960, a largely solo outing for Storyville in 1963 that was cut in Copenhagen, a set for British Decca the following year that found him in the company of Waters and Eric Clapton, and a 1964 LP for Prestige where Spann shared vocal duties with bandmate James Cotton. Testament and Vanguard both recorded Spann as a leader in 1965. The Blues Is Where It's At, Spann's enduring 1966 album for ABC-Bluesway, sounded like a live recording but was actually a studio date enlivened by a gaggle of enthusiastic onlookers that applauded every song (Waters, guitarist Sammy Lawhorn, and George "Harmonica" Smith were among the support crew on the date). A Bluesway encore, The Bottom of the Blues followed in 1967 and featured Otis's wife, Lucille Spann, helping out on vocals. Spann's last few years with Muddy Waters were memorable for their collaboration on the Chess set Fathers and Sons, but the pianist was clearly ready to launch a solo career, recording a set for Blue Horizon with British blues-rockers Fleetwood Mac that produced Spann's laidback "Hungry Country Girl." He finally turned the piano chair in the Waters band over to Pinetop Perkins in 1969, but fate didn't grant Spann long to achieve solo stardom. He was stricken with cancer and died in April of 1970.
— Bill Dahl , All Music Guide

Muddy Waters called "Little Brother" and was his half-brother. Muddy said of him, the best "real solid bottom blues" player of his day. Only a piece of plywood marked his grave until June 6, 1999 when a gravestone was finally installed thanks to funds raised by readers of 'Blues Revue' Magazine.

I first got hip to Otis Spann when he was backed up by my 60's British Blues heros....Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac on the great LP "The Biggest Thing Since Colossus" on Mike Vernon's Blue Horizon Record label.....
- Mickster , Jungle Records

Check out Otis' 1st Solo record on the Checker label from 1954 with B.B.King & Robert Lockwood on guitars & Muddy Waters on bass!! Although he re-recorded this song up to his death in 1970, this is the definitive recording IMHO! I'll never forget the day I found this 78rpm in my buddy Mystic Mark Martucci's basement along with a Little Walter 78 just waiting for a new home.....when my eyes popped open and drool was dripping on these slabs of shellac Mysto's comment was....."I guess they're going home with you...."
Thank you bro!

Otis Spann It Must Have Been The Devil

Andre Williams....The Black Godfather

2009-02-04T09:26:00.010-05:00

Andre Williams lived in a housing project with his mother until she dide when he was six years of age. A sly and smart young boy, his "aunties" raised him until he was around 16. He then set out on his own and moved to the motor city, Detroit. There, he bacame friends with Jack and Devora Brown, owners of Fortune Records located in the back of a barber shop.

In 1955 he became lead singer for the 5 Dollars vocal group, which already had a contract with Fortune. Though most of the songs were billed as Andre 'Mr. Rhythm' Williams and the Don Juans. One of their songs was such a big hit [Bacon Fat] that Fortune sold the song to Epic Records which had a much larger distributor. Another song that was a hit by Williams at the time was "Jailbait". Both of these bore the name Andre Williams & Orchestra. Since both were successes, Williams figured that "talking instead of singing" was a better idea for him, for he didn't have a good a voice as some other singers from the 1950's. In 1960 Fortune released a complete LP, of all of his singles with the Don Juans, which was titled JAIL BAIT [rereleased in 1986]. This was the start of Williams nationwide fame.

Just before "The Black Godfather" inked a contract with Chess
Records [1968] he released two records on the Avin Record Label, then two records were released on Detroit's Wingate label [1966]:"Loose Juice" and "Do it".

Download the B-side of "Loose Juice"....and purrrrrr!!!!

Andre Williams Sweet Little Pussycat

Bob "Froggy" Landers w/ Willie Joe & his Unitar

2009-01-28T09:17:00.014-05:00

It's time for the world to know about the meanest sounding guitar of the 50's.....Willie Joe & his Unitar!

Sure Link Wray's "Rumble" is the most sinister sounding 2:13 seconds R&R ever had! but Joe Willie Duncan listened to his woman when she said..."bigger is better, Joe Willie...!"

Willie's Unitar was a killer one-stringed instrument of atomic
proportions.....the Unitar. Made from an amplified 7 foot wood plank with one string [actually a wire] with a playing scale of over 4 and a half feet and wired with a DeArmond acoustic guitar pickup. Duncan didn't "pick" the string but instead used a hunk of leather to flog the string as he played it.

Specialty records' head honcho Rene' Hall flipped his first name and recorded him as Willie Joe & his Unitar and put Unitar Rock on the flip side of Bob "Froggy" Landers killer "Cherokee Dance".

Listen to both of these classic 50's hookie-lau's!!!

Bob "Froggy" Landers Cherokee Dance
Willie Joe & his Unitar Unitar Rock

Jerusalem - Kamakazi Moth

2009-01-03T09:24:00.008-05:00

Jerusalem - Kamakazi Moth [Deram 1972]

I figured since my tastes range from blues, r&b, soul, garage, hard rock that I'd post something other that what I've been...having said that dig this pounding killer from a bunch of teenagers in the UK...

Jerusalem was an early 1970s British raunchy heavy rock five piece outfit, who released one self-titled album worldwide in 1972 on Deram, produced by Ian Gillan of Deep Purple. Their only other release was a 45 rpm 7 inch single, the non-album ‘Kamikazi Moth’ backed with ‘Frustration’ from the LP.

The band's raunchy, unpolished and brutal rock was "way ahead of its time" and therefore the band never "made it" in a true commercial sense at the time. They were very much a "live" band and whilst many other Rock bands were into getting their audiences to sit down and listen, Jerusalem were all about making their audiences stand up, move and join in. Gigging throughout Europe and shared the same stage as bands such as Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and Status Quo as well as playing at some of the major Festivals in Europe to audiences of 50,000+, usually going down in a storm, because they were different, raw and uninhibited. It has often been stated within the music business that Jerusalem were a substantial influence on many of the 2nd generation Rock "metal" bands and Punk bands of the 80's. Although signing with Deram, Nick Mobbs head of the EMI Harvest label also wanted them; he later became head of A&R for EMI and was the first person to sign the Sex Pistols.

Keep in mind that these guys were all teenagers when they recorded.

Jerusalem Kamakazi Moth

Jimmie Raye - Hey Let's Dance

2009-01-03T08:43:00.009-05:00

Jimmie Raye - Hey Let's Dance [Satan 1962]

Jimmie Raye Feagen was born in Alabama and raised in Niagara Falls, New York. His grandfather Abraham Singer was the voice that he listened to the most and being a minister, he introduced Jimmie to the bible. The family moved to Niagara Falls when he was eight years old.

At the age of nine The Junior Royal Gospel Singers was formed with Jimmie, his sisters Ina, Mae and Pearl. The Royal Gospel Singers were very popular in the Niagara Falls, Buffalo area and the Junior Royal Gospel Singers would often open the concert for them. Jimmie enjoyed singing the lord's music he learned growing up. In his home there were two types of music, Country and Gospel.....Rhythm and Blues was not allowed.

In 1962 Jimmie went to Washington D.C. where Bo Didley introduced Jimmie Raye to singer/producer Sylvester Steward [Sly Stone???]. Satan Records was the recording company formed and Jimmie recorded "Hey Let's Dance" b/w "Forgive Me."

Check out this slab of screamin' R&B & dance!! As it was recorded in D.C. in 1962 it's possible that Link Wray & the Wraymen might've had something to do with the hookey-lau goings on....sounds like it could be.

I dare anyone to not wet their pants as Jimmie gets into it toward the end of the record.

Jimmie Raye Hey Let's Dance

Calvin Cool & the Surf Knobs - El Tecolote

2009-01-03T08:31:00.007-05:00

Calvin Cool & the Surf Knobs- El Tecolote [C-R-C 1963]

Calvin Cool was really one of the leading figures of West Coast jazz, Shorty Rogers. He recorded 1-LP & 1 45rpm as Calvin Cool.

His decision to stop performing and switch to full-time studio work in 1962 marked the end of its golden era. Rogers played with a number of big bands in the late 1940s, and began to attract attention as an arranger while working with Woody Herman. Stan Kenton then hired him away from Herman and Rogers' compositions and arrangements for Kenton made him as much of a star as any of Kenton's soloists. Rogers left Kenton and pulled together a small group that included Art Pepper, Shelley Manne, Jimmy Giuffre, and Hampton Hawes to record Modern Sounds for Capitol. Rogers' tight and innovative arrangements on this recording are considered by many to be as influential as Gil Evans' for Miles Davis' small group on Birth of the Cool.

Rogers formed a small group he called the Giants and recorded a series of albums for RCA, including The Cool and the Crazy and Shorty Courts the Count. Marlon Brando wanted Rogers to provide the soundtrack for his movie, The Wild One, but the studio refused, hiring Leith Stevens to provide most of the score. Rogers was featured on screen, though, in Frank Sinatra's The Man With the Golden Arm, leading the jazz group Sinatra's character played with. Rogers also worked with Perez Prado on a concept album titled Voodoo Suite.

Rogers was a dramatic character but a thoroughly professional musician, and he moved to the financial security of writing for television and movies when the West Coast jazz scene began to fade in the early 1960s. He was a prolific contributor to television and to a lesser extent films through the 1980s. Among the series he scored or wrote incidental music for were "The Partridge Family," "The Mod Squad," "The Rookies," "Starsky and Hutch," and "The Love Boat." His tune "Chelsea Memorandum" shows up in the midst of Lalo Schifrin's cuts on the second "Mission: Impossible" soundtrack album. He also composed and conducted the music for a number of the innovative UPA cartoons featuring the work of Theodore Geissel (Dr. Seuss) and Stan Freberg.

During this period, Rogers continued to work occasionally on pop and jazz recordings, but primarily as an arranger. He and Claus Ogerman split arranging duties on Mel Torme's 1962 hit album, "Coming Home, Baby." Late in the 1960s, he was responsible for one of those assimilation-via-train wreck creations that incredibly strange music fans love, Bobby Bryant's "The Jazz Excursion into 'Hair'". He pops up as arranger in a variety of places, from Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass' Christmas album to Bud Shank's mellow album of Lovin' Spoonful covers for Liberty to Frances Faye's now sounds album, "Go Go Go." One of his ignominious credits is the arrangement for Wayne Newton's cover of "These Boots are Made for Walking."

Shorty or Calvin died in 1994......

Calvin Cool El Tecolote

Jenks "Tex" Carman - Hillbilly Hula [Capitol 1952]

2008-12-27T13:04:00.010-05:00

Submitted by "Albany" Al Tellone of Newark - a.k.a. Albee
Albee is an old, old friend of mine...we worked and met at the Danelectro Guitar Factory in 1969? or 1968. He was also [along with Big Danny Gallagher] the first road crew for Bruce Springsteen as well as adding sax to the Boss's 2nd LP.

Jenks Tex Carman was one of the more dubious but interesting talents ever to achieve stardom, however fleeting, in country music. A player of great dexterity but severely lacking in any sense of rhythm, and even more lacking in a voice, Carman succeeded on the basis of the sheer enthusiasm of his performances, achieving some respectable record sales and a national following based on his television appearances.

Carman's Capitol recording career lasted from April of 1951 until December of 1953, and despite some very uncomfortable moments in the studio, he generated some choice sides — "Hillbilly Hula" was his most famous and requested song.

Jenks "Tex" Carman was not in a league with the best steel or Hawaiian guitarists, and his vocal skills were even more limited. He was a master showman, however, and accomplished with sheer enthusiasm and reckless abandon what he couldn't do with technical skills or musical instincts.

Listen to this steel string twistin' party!!

Jenks "Tex" Carman Hillbilly Hula

Big Daddy & His Boys - Bacon Fat

2008-12-27T12:08:00.009-05:00

Big Daddy & His Boys - Bacon Fat [King 1957]

The greasy, grindin' slab of 10" shellac was released in 1957 on Sid Nathans' King Records. Bacon Fat was originally done by Andre' Williams on Epic Records in 1956 and re-released on Fortune in 1957.

Big Daddy is really Big Bob Kornegay who also recorded as "The Happy Wanderer" - "Hocus Pocus Voodoo" on Herald Records, Big Bob the incredible "Your line was a busy" on Jaro Records, and Big Bee Kornegay - "The House of Frankenstein".

His first recordings were in 1951/'52 on Sittin' In With Records, NYC, afterwhich he took the bass chair in the Du-Droppers and later in The Ravens when Jimmy Ricks left to go solo.

The last anyone heard of The Big Man was in 1963 when he put out Wowsville, pts 1&2 on Stacy Records.

Download this slab of "Bacon Fat"...

Big Daddy & His Boys Bacon Fat

A Legend Passes

2008-12-20T05:36:00.006-05:00

Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chávarri del Castillo A.K.A.
Yma Sumac R.I.P.

Yma Sumac (September 13, 1922 – November 1, 2008) was a noted Peruvian soprano. Legend has it that she was born in Brooklyn, NY and Yma Sumac was really Amy Camus [Yma Sumac spelt backwards].........but this has never been confirmed anymore than the Alice Cooper / Eddie Haskell rumor.

In the 1950s, she was one of the most famous proponents of exotica music and became an international success, based on the merits of her extreme vocal range, which was said to be "well over four octaves" and was sometimes claimed to span even five octaves at her peak.

During the 1950s, Yma Sumac produced a series of legendary lounge music recordings featuring Hollywood-style versions of Incan and South American folk songs, working with the likes of Les Baxter and Billy May. The combination of her extraordinary voice, exotic looks, and stage personality made her a hit with American audiences.

She recorded a record in 1971 with Les Baxter in charge with some rock musicians titled "Miracles"....again legend has it that it was Lou Reed on guitar but I doubt this rumor also....

Listen to a cut from "Miracles" ........

Yma Sumac Remember

Technicolor Balls & Strikes?

2008-12-20T04:47:00.008-05:00

DOC ELLIS....R.I.P

Dock Phillip Ellis, Jr. (March 11, 1945 - December 19, 2008) was a Major League baseball player who pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates, among other teams. His best season was 1971, when he won 19 games for the World Series champion Pirates and was the starting pitcher for the National League in the All-Star Game.

However, Ellis is better-known for several incidents:

Beaning Reggie Jackson in the face in apparent retaliation for Reggie's monstrous home run off Ellis in the 1971 All-Star game in Detroit.

No-hitting the San Diego Padres on June 12, 1970 despite being, as he would claim in 1984, under the influence of LSD throughout the course of the game. Ellis had been visiting friends in Los Angeles under the impression he had the day off and was still high when his girlfriend told him he had to pitch a game against the Padres that night. Ellis boarded a shuttle flight to the ballpark and threw a no-hitter despite not being able to feel the ball or clearly see the batter or catcher. Ellis claims catcher Jerry May wore reflective tape on his fingers which helped Ellis to see his target. Ellis walked eight, struck out six, and was aided by excellent fielding plays by second baseman Bill Mazeroski and centerfielder Matty Alou. During the game, Ellis is reported to have commented to his teammates on the bench between innings that he was pitching a no-hitter-- in spite of the superstition that discourages mentioning a no-hitter while it is in progress. Because the no-hitter was the first game of a double header, Ellis was forced to keep track of the pitch count for the night game.
According to Ellis:
I can only remember bits and pieces of the game. I was psyched. I had a feeling of euphoria. I was zeroed in on the (catcher's) glove, but I didn't hit the glove too much. I remember hitting a couple of batters and the bases were loaded two or three times. The ball was small sometimes, the ball was large sometimes, sometimes I saw the catcher, sometimes I didn't. Sometimes I tried to stare the hitter down and throw while I was looking at him. I chewed my gum until it turned to powder. They say I had about three to four fielding chances. I remember diving out of the way of a ball I thought was a line drive. I jumped, but the ball wasn't hit hard and never reached me.

Attempting to hit every batter in the Cincinnati Reds lineup on May 1, 1974. In an effort to prove a point to teammates, Ellis hit Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, and Dan Driessen in the top of the first. The clean-up batter Tony Perez avoided Ellis' attempts, instead drawing a walk, and after two pitches aimed at the head of Johnny Bench, Ellis was removed from the game by manager Danny Murtaugh. Ellis' box score for the game reads: 0 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K.
Arguing with and being maced by a Riverfront Stadium security guard on May 5, 1972. The guard claimed Ellis did not identify himself and "made threatening gestures with a closed fist"; Ellis countered that he was showing his World Series ring as evidence of his affiliation with the Pirates.

Ellis went on to play for the New York Mets, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, and Texas Rangers, then ended his career back in Pittsburgh. He finished with a lifetime record of 138-119 and an ERA of 3.46.

Ellis collaborated with future U.S. Poet Laureate Donald Hall on a book, Dock Ellis in the Country of Baseball, which was published in 1976. Although Hall knew of the LSD incident, it was not included in the first edition of the book; Ellis was playing for the Yankees when the book was published, and Hall worried that George Steinbrenner would react negatively to such an admission.

Dock Ellis retired to Victorville, California and a career as a drug counselor. He was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver in 2007 and was on the list for a transplant at the time of his death. ESPN reported on December 19, 2008, that Ellis had died at his California home due to "a liver ailment."

Pitching a major league baseball game while tripping the light fantastic....now that's talent. You can't make this stuff up......

Jazz Bassist Sees a Sitar in the Corner And.......

2008-12-14T16:18:00.008-05:00

Bill Plummer & the Cosmic Brotherhood - Journey to the East [Impulse 1968]

To call this "faux-psych" would be doing a this incredible part of the California psych scene a disservice. It's so good that who cares if it is just a bunch of studio guys that listened to Dr. Tim and took his advice. One look at the musician credits gives you a hint that it's chock full of heavyweights. Hersh Hamel (Himmelstein) gets the songwriting and production credit. Look into Hamel's history and you find that he was a constant figure in West Coast Jazz. His name is behind Chet Baker (he appears in Let's Get Lost), Dexter Gordon, Teddy Edwards, and especially Art Pepper. Carol Kaye you might recognize as the thundering bass on "These Boots Are Made For Walking", a young Tom Scott adds sax, flute & electronics, Milt Holland on tabla and the ringleader is Bill Plummer, string bassist & sitarist who made an astounding and quite collectible sitar psych jazz album. The vocals are handled by a guy named Maurice Miller, who primarily was a jazz drummer, having played behind John Coltrane on Cosmic Music (as well as other gigs).

Check out this tongue-in-cheek homage to all things "cosmic" by downloading the opening track for the LP below.

Bill Plummer & the Cosmic Brotherhood Journey to the East

James Brown Meets a Giant

2008-12-14T10:44:00.014-05:00

James Brown & Fabulous Flames - That Dood It [Federal 1957]

Check out this slab of 10" mayhem from the Godfather. One of the most untypical recordings of JB's early career. It's the comic tale of "a great big ole giant, my money, my honey, and me", cast in the similar mold of what Ray Charles was doing a couple of years previous.

As far as I know "That Dood It" was never released on 45rpm but only on 78rpm but it did appear on JB's first LP "Please Please Please" in 1959. It was included on ROOTS OF A REVOLUTION, a double cd of some of JB's early recordings which was released and is now Out Of Print.

JB's picks for singles releases were totally at odds with cigar smokin' Sid Nathan of King Records in Cincinnati....I would've loved to be a fly on the wall for this one.

James Brown & the Fabulous Flames That Dood It

Who Was That Moocher?

2008-12-07T13:50:00.007-05:00

Dave Bartholomew - Who Drank The Beer While I Was In The Rear [Imperial 1952]

Dave Bartholomew was the man behind Fats Domino rise to success as well as being the author of Chuck Berry's only #1 - My Ding-A-Ling [but we'll forgive him for that!].

Trumpet player, entepreneur, songwriter, member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame...all these titles apply to the great Dave Bartholomew. Elvis Costello thought enough of DB to mention him in "Monkey to Man" on THE DELIVERY MAN which came out in 2004.

Check out this amazing slice of R&B from one of the first artists to write about social issues [The Monkey].

Dave Bartholomew Who Drank The Beer While I Was In The Rear