RECORD FIEND

New Mailbox for Review Requests and Other General Correspondence

2015-09-12T20:39:00.009-05:00

On January 26, 2010, a technical glitch prevented the previous mailbox from accepting any additional comments. I've learned from experience that it's a waste of time to ask Google/Blogger for help, so I put that old message container out to pasture. If you're looking for comments from January 25, 2010 or before, you can find them here.

The gentlemen pictured above will continue to see to it that any new correspondence (requests, general comments, questions, etc.) is delivered to us in a timely fashion.

WHAT TO DO IF SOMETHING "DOESN'T WORK": Go here, and send an e-mail to me describing the problem that you have encountered and what you would like us to do to assist. We will no longer respond to "The -------- doesn't work!" comments, nor will they be published. I will say this: Typing usually works better than copying and pasting. If that doesn't help, go here to download a list of possible solutions to the technical difficulties that you're experiencing.

The Ace of Cups - It's Bad for You But Buy It! (Big Beat, 2003)

2012-01-02T23:59:00.009-06:00

By request.

I first became aware of this all-woman Haight-Ashbury band sometime in high school when I was going through my first of many Jefferson Airplane phases. The Ace of Cups was credited with providing backing vocals on Volunteers, and, partially due to my additional interest in the occult, the Tarot-derived name stayed with me. As a college student in the early 1990s when my tastes in Bay Area psychedelic rock groups became more intense, I began noticing the frequency with which their name appeared on period concert posters as well as wondering why they never got signed to a record label. Then, about ten years later, the good people at Big Beat, in typically thorough fashion, compiled this authoritative Ace of Cups anthology with material that most people never even knew existed. Although it took a little while for me to warm to it, It's Bad for You But Buy It! conclusively shows that this outfit was not just some gimmicky countercultural girl group but instead a deserving member of San Francisco's 1960s rock pantheon.

THE ACE OF CUPS, CIRCA 1968 - CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: DIANE VITALICH,
MARY GANNON, MARY ELLEN SIMPSON, MARLA HUNT, & DENISE KAUFMAN

The Ace of Cups coalesced in similar fashion to many other contemporary Bay Area aggregations and included musicians whose diverse backgrounds all contributed to their recognizably regional but nonetheless unique sound. The concept for this exclusively female group originated with bassist and early Haight-Ashbury scenestress Mary Gannon, whose first recruits were keyboard player Marla Hunt and guitarist Mary Ellen Simpson, both of whom she met through mutual acquaintances. She then encountered percussionist Diane Vitalich practicing drums during a visit to a commune and immediately persuaded her to join in the ranks. Simpson was an associate of Blue Cheer, and it was during a jam at their house on New Years Eve 1967 that she crossed paths with Denise Kaufman, whose curiosity was piqued by the former's involvement with a band comprised entirely of women. Kaufman already possessed an impressive countercultural resume resulting from her "Mary Microgram" days with Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters, involvement with proto-Moby Grape band Luminous Marsh Gas, and stint in a hospital psychiatric ward among other things. Although primarily known by other musicians for her blueswailing harmonica work, she soon joined the Ace of Cups and for the most part functioned as a second guitarist while also seeming to provide the missing element that completed the band. Ron Polte, Quicksilver Messenger Service's manager, handled the group's business affairs and often got the ladies to perform as the opening act at gigs headlined by his better-known client. As with Quicksilver, he took a very cautious approach in dealing with record labels and held out for a more musician-friendly contract that, in retrospect, was an unrealistic expectation. The end result was that the Ace of Cups never had the opportunity to do an LP or even a 45.

Nevertheless, many of their live performances were professionally recorded, much to the benefit of those with an interest in all things 1960s Haight-Ashbury. A significant number of tracks on It's Bad for You But Buy It!, therefore, come from appearances at various Bay Area venues, which some people might find preferable given the high regard given to concerts from the era. I'll stand by my opinion presented in the review of Love Is the Song We Sing (which features one of the songs included here) that the Ace of Cups were better in theory than in practice since this CD consists of music that is usually good but seldom great. One can hear many interesting stylistic elements floating around in the songs that unfortunately don't always gel, a problem that perhaps could have been overcome if the band had the opportunity to spend time in a recording studio and refine their approach by working with a sympathetic producer. The booklet notes astutely point out that the group was comprised of musicians who were competent but not virtuosos, so those expecting epic psychedelic guitar improvisations along the lines of John Cipollina or Jorma Kaukonen might be disappointed. The Ace of Cups' true strengths lie with their ragged-but-still-lovely hippie girl vocals (individual or harmony) and non-traditional approach to song structure, which doesn't always work but remains commendable all the same. The a cappella "Music" displays their singing talents right off the bat, while "Boy What'll You Do Then" represents an abrupt turn into garage 45 territory circa 1965 by Kaufman and Berkeley high school band the Answer (but credited to "Denise & Company"). "Glue" neatly displays the outfit's strengths and weaknesses. In spite of the song's agreeable melody, that spoken-word part in the middle is a little awkward, don't you think? "Taste of One" marks a return to vocal prettiness, whereas the tough "Stones" rocks out admirably in a fashion somewhere between the Great Society and early QMS, and the same can be said of "Waller Street Blues" and "Circles." "Looking for My Man" finds the Ace of Cups at their most inspired and balances soul-and-rhythm-and-blues-inspired singing alongside nicely-executed instrumental passages, with "Pretty Boy," a cover of "I Wanna Testify," "Gospel Song," and "Catch You Later" all more or less being in the same vein. An interpretation of Mongo Santamaria's "Afro Blue" as well the originals "Simplicity" and "Medley: Life in Your Hands/Thelina" (a tribute to the birth of Gannon's daughter) provide evidence that the ladies were capable of stretching out, albeit sometimes more successfully than others. The sparsely-arranged "Hear Every Sound" concludes the CD on a note that unfortunately presages the sound of early-1970s female singer-songwriters, although it does feature the typically superb vocals that were the Ace of Cups' calling card.

DENISE, MARY, & MARY ELLEN JAM

1. Music
2. Boy, What'll You Do Then - Denise & Company
3. Glue
4. Taste of One
5. Stones
6. Looking for My Man
7. Afro Blue
8. Pretty Boy
9. Waller Street Blues
10. I Wanna Testify
11. Gospel Song
12. Circles
13. Catch You Later
14. Simplicity
15. Medley: Life in Your Hands/Thelina
16. Hear Every Sound

Mr. Flood's Party - Mr. Flood's Party - 24-bit 96 kHz FLAC original vinyl rip (Cotillion, 1969)

2011-12-25T23:59:00.003-06:00

As one of the last truly great psychedelic albums of the 1960s, the eponymous debut (and only) LP by Mr. Flood's Party remains an exquisite listening experience more than 40 years after its was unleashed upon a generally unresponsive record-buying public. Although its intermingling of various musical styles in an experimental fashion was no longer a novelty by this point in the decade, it achieves a grandeur that few other contemporary releases achieve due largely to the group's considerable vocal and instrumental talents. There were still a lot of great mind-expanding records coming out in 1969 even if psychedelia was approaching the end of its commercial rope, and Mr. Flood's Party definitely qualifies as one of them.

An aura of obscurity continues to surround the group due to a scarcity of information about them, a somewhat surprising situation considering that they were signed to major-label Atlantic subsidiary Cotillion and apparently hailed from Long Island in New York. The personnel consisted of Tom Castagnaro, Michael Corbett, Jay Hirsch, Rick Mirage, Marcel Thompsen, and Freddy Toscano, although I cannot locate much in the way of details about what instruments they played. A Myspace page (remember those?) respectively identifies Catagnaro and the Dutch-born Thompsen as a drummer and guitarist and describes some of the other members (the "two 'Principal's'" [sic]) as college professors! Corbett and Hirsch (the rocking academicians?) probably handled a significant amount of the vocals since they would later record an album with guitarist Hugh McCracken on which their singing has been favorably compared with Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young. According to one source, Toscano subsequently functioned as a singer, guitarist, and keyboardist in the little-known mid-1970s band Frogs, and it is quite possible that he served in the same capacity with Mr. Flood's Party. While these two aforementioned offshoots have their musical virtues, neither of them bear much of a resemblance to the band that recorded the subject of this review.

MR. FLOOD'S PARTY, 1969 - L TO R: ? , ?, MARCEL THOMPSEN, ?,
TOM CASTAGNARO, & ? (CAN ANYONE IDENTIFY THE OTHER GUYS?)

So what does Mr. Flood's Party sound like? As with quite a few albums recorded circa 1966-1969, it is a very eclectic affair and displays a great number of influences including guitar-intensive West Coast psych, orchestrated baroque rock, and harmony-vocal-heavy British Invasion groups to name but a few. The record boasts impressive production standards as well as effects supplied by what sounds like a Moog or Mellotron synthesizer and a Leslie amplifier, while the songs range from delightfully weird hard rock tunes to exquisitely crafted exercises in mind expansion. Even though some critics claim that an overabundance of musical variety prevented Mr. Flood's Party from establishing a concrete musical identity as a band, I beg to differ and believe that their lone effort should be recognized as a challenging and multilayered work that will reward the listener with repeated spins on his or her turntable. Not that I necessarily advocate such things, but indulging in some mind-altering drugs will probably make this record even easier to appreciate. A discernible feeling of sadness pervades much of the album, which should not come as a surprise since the group's name is derived from "Mr. Flood's Party," a piece by the notedly gloomy American poet Edwin Arlington Robinson. (I assume the cover artwork depicts the drunken old sod Mr. Flood himself.) That's not to suggest that Mr. Flood's Party the LP should be considered a tearjerker, although it's certainly an introspective listening experience since the songs explore much of the same thematic territory as Robinson's works. Some of the tracks have an engaging schizophrenic quality to them, in particular "Northern Travel" (an LSD metaphor?) and "Deja Vu," which sound as if they were constructed from several different songs and glued together with psychedelic paste. Wailing lead guitar, soaring strings, and heavenly vocals grace "Advice," while "Prince of Darkness" finds the band sounding somewhat like an East Coast equivalent to the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band to my ears. The delicate but not overly-precious "Simon J. Stone" features more gorgeous harmony singing in addition to lyrics that could pass for one of Robinson's own poems. The Moog showcase "Stanley's Tea" finds Mr. Flood's Party at their most Anglophonic, while "The Liquid Invasion," with its searing lead guitar work, is just as psychedelic as its title implies. The dreamy "Garden of the Queen" returns the band to British-inspired material and intentionally or not comes off as something resembling psych folk. "Mind Circus," the complex closing track, can best be described as a musical interpretation of someone's descent into madness, concluding with a haunting fadeout that will stay with you for days.

TOM CASTAGNARO (L) & MARCEL THOMPSEN WITH STUDIO
TAPE DUB OF THE MR. FLOOD'S PARTY ALBUM

1. Northern Travel
2. Deja Vu
3. Advice
4. Prince of Darkness
5. Simon J. Stone
6. Stanley's Tea
7. The Liquid Invasion
8. Garden of the Queen
9. Mind Circus

Blues Images Presents...1920s Blues Classics Vol. 1 (Blues Images, 2004)

2011-12-13T23:59:00.002-06:00

Looking for a great last-minute Christmas present to give to your favorite prewar blues record fiend? My suggestion: the 2012 Blues Images calendar. In addition to 12 months worth of fantastic vintage advertising artwork, you also get a tastefully compiled CD featuring classics of the genre (most of which correspond with the illustrations) in perhaps their best ever sound quality. And if that's not enough, each sampler usually boasts at least one recently-discovered exclusive track.

TOMMY JOHNSON

So here's the accompanying disc to the calendar that started it all, the 2004 edition. While listening to it in preparation for this review, I was reminded that not only is it a first-rate collection, but moreover it would serve as an excellent introduction to anyone interested in getting their first taste of blues from the 1920s and 1930s. While it might come off as nitpicking, one must acknowledge the large number of Blind Blake and Blind Lemon Jefferson sides that have appeared on these Blues Images CDs over the years. Although it could be argued that these musicians have been over-represented, let's also not forget that they sold a lot of records during the 1920s, resulting in a greater number of print advertisements compared to other blues singers. Blake's "He's in the Jailhouse Now" (an outstanding duet with Gus Cannon on banjo) and "Bad Feeling Blues" and Lemon's "Rising High Water Blues" (interesting for the piano-only instrumental backing from George Perkins) and "Black Snake Dream Blues" may not be the most well-known songs by these visually-impaired guitarists, but they certainly have never sounded better. The complete discography of Louisiana slide guitarist Willard "Ramblin'" Thomas can be a tedious listening experience, but he committed a few really good performances to wax, including "No Job Blues." Anyone care to argue with my contention that "22-20 Blues" is the greatest of Skip James' piano sides? In similar fashion, one could also canonize Charlie Patton's "Down the Dirt Road Blues," which essentially provided the musical foundation for Howlin' Wolf's performing style. "Death Cell Blues" ranks among Blind Willie McTell's more notable recordings from the early 1930s, while Bumble Bee Slim's debut from 1931, "Rough Rugged Blues," qualifies as perhaps his most compelling moment, even with the original disc's obvious surface noise issues. Speaking of surface noise, such sonic imperfections have always plagued most of Son House's Paramount 78s, but his impassioned voice and guitar typically shine through the audio haze, as can be heard on "Dry Spell Blues Part 1." The galvanic "Beale Town Bound" deserves mention as one of the best of Frank Stokes and Dan Sain's sides attributed to their "Beale Street Sheiks" moniker and contains one hell of a great putdown: "Say fella, don't you know she's mine, she's yours, she's somebody else's, too?!" Ma Rainey's "Dead Drunk Blues" owes much of its spare nature to the unadorned piano accompaniment of Hop Hopkins, whereas the sentimentality of Tommy Johnson's "I Want Someone to Love Me" results as much from his hillbilly-esque singing as it does from its maudlin lyrics. This compilation's crown jewels, the then-recently unearthed "Cold Woman Blues" by Blind Joe Reynolds and "Times Has Done Got Hard" by King Solomon Hill, are saved for last. Simply put, these exhilarating sides exhibit radically different approaches to slide guitar by a pair of singular blues artists whose primary similarity was their Delta origins. Consequently, the performances further support the view that the term "Delta blues" is more accurately applied in a geographic sense rather than a stylistic one.

1. He's in the Jailhouse Now - Blind Blake
2. No Job Blues - Ramblin' Thomas
3. 22-20 Blues - Skip James
4. Rising High Water Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson
5. Down the Dirt Road Blues - Charlie Patton
6. Death Cell Blues - Blind Willie McTell
7. Rough Rugged Road - Bumble Bee Slim
8. Dry Spell Blues Part 1 - Son House
9. Bad Feeling Blues - Blind Blake
10. Beale Town Bound - The Beale Street Sheiks
11. Black Snake Dream Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson
12. Dead Drunk Blues - Ma Rainey
13. I Want Someone to Love Me - Tommy Johnson
14. Cold Woman Blues - Blind Joe Reynolds
15. Times Has Done Got Hard - King Solomon Hill

ENIGMATIC AND CONTROVERSIAL PHOTO SHOWING A GUITAR PLAYER WHO
MIGHT BE KING SOLOMON HILL POSING WITH A PIPE-SMOKING FRIEND

Omar Khorshid - Belly Dance from Lebanon (Voix de l'Orient, mid 1970s; 1990)

2011-12-11T21:20:00.003-06:00

I'm ending this series of Middle Eastern-Belly Dance posts (if you hadn't already noticed, I've primarily been reviewing recordings of particular genres or artists in groups of three for the last several weeks) with an excellent album by the greatest guitarist - and one of the overall finest instrumentalists - that the Arab world has ever produced: Omar Khorshid. Although he was Egyptian by birth, Belly Dance from Lebanon owes its title to the musician's 1970s residency in Beruit, which was enjoying a period of stability that fostered a flowering of art and entertainment unparalleled in region's recent history. I don't know if someday I'll be fortunate enough to score any original copies of Khorshid's LPs, so CD reissues on the Digital Press Hellas label (can anyone tell me if they are a legitimate outfit or not?) such as this one will have to suffice for the time being.

KHORSHID WITH UNKNOWN PERCUSSIONIST

Although purists might object to the non-traditional instrumentation featured on these 11 tracks, I can forgive the cheesy synthesizer arrangements because Khorshid's always impressive fretwork more than makes up for the music's occasional forays into "Disco Arabia" territory. As with any other virtuoso, he possesses an instantly recognizable sound that leaves the listener with no do doubt about the identity of the performer. Most guitarists are lucky if they can come up with a signature lick; Khorshid essentially created an entire musical sub-genre with his singular electric take on Middle Eastern music. "Hassan" and "Karoun Karoyn" represent inspired interpretations of traditional Arab material and contain themes that will likely be familiar to aficionados of belly dance music. "Aziza" (cf. John Berberian's version) and "Ya Salat Ezzein" pay tribute respectively to Egyptian musical giants Mohammed Abdel Wahab and Sheikh Zakaria Ahmed and are performed in a manner that probably would have been inconceivable to their composers. Nevertheless, the unique fashion in which they are executed makes them magnificent. "Arrissassa," "Al Hob El Awal," "Wadil Muluk," "Sabirine," "Ommil Habiba," "Raksat El Kheyl," and "Raksat El Jedane" display the guitarist's own estimable composing skills, and several of these tracks were apparently featured in contemporary films from Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria. While it contains some duplication of material with the definitive Guitar El Chark anthology, Belly Dance from Lebanon still qualifies as a worthwhile acquisition for Omar Khorshid fanatics.

GUITARIST AND RECORD COLLECTOR

1. Aziza
2. Arrissassa
3. Hassan
4. Al Hob El Awal
5. Wadil Muluk
6. Ya Salat Ezzein
7. Sabirine
8. Karoun Karoyn
9. Ommil Habiba
10. Raksat El Kheyl
11. Raksat El Jedane

OMAR AND HIS MAGIC GUITAR WITH FEMALE ADMIRER

Ray Mirijanian's Music for Belly Dancing Vol. 1 (Mirta, 1970s)

2011-12-07T23:59:00.005-06:00

I'm not sure about the exact figure, but it seems like oudist and clarinetist Ray Mirijanian recorded quite a few albums during the 1960s and 1970s for the tiny Mirta label, which was a joint venture between him and Middle East Restaurant proprietor Jim Tayoun. Although this establishment has been closed for quite awhile now, at one time it was among Philadelphia's preeminent locations for Middle Eastern cuisine, music, and belly dancing. Mirijanian and his various groups performed at this venue on a regular basis, and I believe that this was where a significant number of his records were sold. It must have been quite an experience to visit a restaurant where one could tell the waiter, "Yes, I'd like baba ghanoush, fattoush, felafel, chicken shawarma, and Ray Mirijanian's most recent LP, please."

While the liner notes don't provide any dates, my educated guess is that Music for Belly Dancing Vol. 1 must have been recorded sometime in the mid 1970s. A strong Greek musical feel permeates the performances on this album due to the presence of singer-clarinet player Alexandros Zaharias and guitarist John Koutsouros, whose instrument often sounds like a bouzouki to my ears. Mirijanian also provides vocals on some tracks and exclusively plays oud throughout the record, with his band being rounded out by a rhythm section including Mardiros Sarajian on tambourine and Joey "Zap" Lewis and Jim Thomas on dumbegs (here referred to by its Arabic equivalent, derbekee). The 18-minute "Belly Dancer's Show" seamlessly blends together Greek, Turkish, and perhaps other musical material and, according to Tayoun's notes, is "a belly dance instructor's dream staged in four parts featuring two drum solos put in to please the request of dancing instructors who have corresponded with Ray from around the country." "Anatolian Medley" and "Ya Kita Kosma Ena Korme" (a piece intended for a dance known as karsilamas) display the mixed Armenian, Greek, and Turkish heritage common in a great deal of Middle Eastern music, whereas "Arabian Debki Dance" represents another aspect of the wide-ranging genre. My favorite tracks are the two near-identically titled improvisations listed as "Tsifte Teli" (a Greek variation on the more common ciftetelli spelling, which is Turkish), with the second featuring an elegant clarinet solo at the beginning of the performance.

**If you enjoy this album, be sure to check out the review of The Ray Mirijanian Oud and Clarinet Volume 1, No. 1.

TOP ROW L TO R: ALEXANDROS ZAHARIAS, JOHN KOUTSOUROS, & RAY
MIRIJANIAN - BOTTOM ROW L TO R: JOEY LEWIS & MARDIROS SARAJIAN

1. Belly Dancer's Show
-Yar Satch Larin
-Madouvala
-Helvaci
-Te Na Ta Kano Ta Lefta
2. Anatolian Medley
3. Tsifte Teli
4. Ya Kita Kosma Ena Korme
5. Tsifte Teli (clarinet solo)
6. Arabian Debki Dance

Souren Baronian - Hye Inspiration (Carlee, mid 1970s; 2008)

2011-12-03T17:48:00.007-06:00

Hye Inspiration* can be considered something of an offshoot of oudist John Berberian's classic 1960s albums for the Mainstream (Expressions Eas t and Oud Artistry), Roulette (Music of the Middle East), and Verve Forecast (Middle Eastern Rock) labels in that it features clarinetist extraordinaire Souren Baronian and vocalist Bob Tashjian, who were both integral members of the groups who recorded those LPs. As I understand it, the three had a professional parting of ways around 1970. Berberian moved from New York City to suburban New Jersey, where he built a home studio and recorded three self-produced private press traditional albums during the mid 1970s in addition to performing primarily at Armenian weddings, picnics, and dances. Baronian and Tashjian continued to work at various clubs in the Big Apple while the former also carried on with experiments of fusing Middle Eastern music with jazz, Latin, and other eclectic styles.

L TO R: BOB TASHJIAN, JOHN TARPINIAN, & SOUREN BARONIAN

Judging by the haircuts and clothing featured in the accompanying photographs, I'm guessing that Hye Inspiration must have been recorded in 1975 or thereabouts. In addition to Baronian and Tashjian, the musicians on this affair include former John Berberian student John Tarpinian on oud, Steve Knight (who had also played with Mountain, the Devil's Anvil, and the Feenjon Group) on electric bass, Jack Zarzatian on acoustic guitar, Jerry Tarpinian (presumably John's brother) on dumbeg, Orhan on kanun, and belly dancer Shamira Shahinian on finger cymbals. Released on the tiny Carlee label, original vinyl copies of the album are somewhat scarce, but a CD reissue that came out a few years ago remains in print.

TAKING A BREAK FROM RECORDING (L TO R): JERRY TARPINIAN,
BARONIAN, TASHJIAN, SHAMIRA, JOHN TARPINIAN, & STEVE KNIGHT

While not quite in the same league as the aforementioned quartet of titles by Berberian, this album bears distinction as one of the best Middle Eastern records of its era, especially since it does not succumb the ersatz funk-disco rhythm arrangements that occasionally appear on - and consequently diminish - similar LPs from the same period. Nevertheless, Hye Inspiration remains something of a progressive effort since six of its eight tracks are original compositions by Tashjian and/or Baronian, although they certainly don't sound out of place next to the remaining material that is of more antiquated vintage. Even if English is your only language (as is the case with me), Tashjian's singing talent makes itself readily apparent on the vocal numbers. As an ethnic Armenian born and raised in Syria, he proves to be equally adept on performances sung in his native language ("Khorodig," "Siroon," and "Eench Anem") as well as in Arabic ("Min Elek Hub" and "Aghli-Jen," with the latter featuring some outstanding solos from Baronian and Tarpinian). However - and with apologies to Tashjian - my favorite tracks are the instrumentals "Hye-Ena," "Herosi Bar," and "Mesrobi-Bar," all of which qualify as belly dance music at its finest.

*"Hye" is the Armenian word for "Armenian."

TARPINIAN, TASHJIAN, & BARONIAN SIT FOR A POSED PHOTO

1. Khorodig
2. Hye-Ena
3. Siroon
4. Min Elek Hub
5. Eench Anem
6. Herosi Bar
7. Aghli-Jen
8. Mesrobi-Bar

Bill Williams - Low and Lonesome & Blues, Rags and Ballads (Blue Goose, 1970 & 1974)

2011-11-28T23:59:00.004-06:00

People sometimes forget that not all of the geriatric musicians who received a wider degree of exposure during the blues revival of the 1950s and 1960s had been recording artists prior to World War II. Those who had made 78s in the 1920s and/or 1930s - e.g. Furry Lewis, Skip James, and Son House - came to be referred to as "rediscoveries." On the other hand, a "discovery" applied to the likes of performers such as Mance Lipscomb, Fred McDowell, and Blind Connie Williams, each of whom had never sat in front of a studio microphone prior to the aforementioned movement that, among other things, spurred the efforts of particular revivalists to record rapidly disappearing styles of rural African-American music. Guitarist Bill Williams (1897-1973) belonged to that latter group of musicians and would be a more familiar name today if not for his late start at making records and noted reluctance for performing anywhere other than at informal gatherings.

A RARE EXAMPLE OF WILLIAMS PLAYING AT A MUSIC FESTIVAL

Going by his repertory, it would be inaccurate to describe Williams as a bluesman; referring to him as a songster would be far more appropriate since he played folk, ragtime, gospel, hillbilly, pop, and blues with equal skill and passion. His diverse songbook and guitar chops left the Richmond, Virginia native sounding like an East Coast equivalent to Mississippi John Hurt, making it a pity that he did not live longer and record more extensively. Williams apparently never had any aspirations to become a professional musician and was content to use his talent as both a pastime and a way to entertain friends. During his younger days, he worked at a number of professions, including waterboy, miner, and cook while spending time in Delaware, Colorado, and Tennessee. Ultimately, he settled in tiny Greenup, Kentucky in 1922, where he resided for the remainder of his life. Although associates and neighbors were well aware of Williams's musical abilities, the remote area where the guitarist made his home allowed him to exist in, as blues historian Stephen Calt puts it, "contended oblivion" essentially throughout the 1950s-1960s blues revival. It was only after a local guitar instructor contacted Yazoo-Blue Goose head honcho Nick Perls in 1970 that this extremely impressive songster discovery became properly recognized as the "most technically accomplished living" musician of his kind during his brief moment in the sun prior to passing away.

WONDERING WHAT ALL THE FUSS IS ABOUT

Evidently, Williams was his own toughest critic in regard to his musical abilities and was incredulous that anyone would have interest in recordings of his music. As Low and Lonesome and Blues, Rags and Ballads (with the latter being the better-sounding rip of the two) readily make clear, he was being way too hard on himself since both albums show his guitar-playing skills and earthy singing voice to be remarkably well-preserved. The instrumentalist with which Williams is most often compared is Blind Blake, and the two allegedly spent time playing together while they both briefly lived in Bristol, Tennessee during the early 1920s. The visually-impaired guitarist's influence can clearly be heard on "My Girlfriend Left Me," "Too Tight," "Bubblegum," and "Blake's Rag," although they are obviously not the work of a mere copyist. Given his pre-1900 birthdate, Williams featured a large number of minstrel songs and ragtime-era numbers in his repertory, including "Chicken" (aka "Chicken You Can Roost Behind the Moon"), "Frankie and Johnny," "Make Me a Pallet on the Floor," "Darktown Strutter's Ball," "Nobody's Business," and "Railroad Bill." The flawlessly-executed instrumentals "Banjo Rag," "Bill's Rag," "Pocahontas" (arguably his finest performance), "Up a Lazy River," "Total Rag," "Listen to the Mockingbird," "That's the Human Thing to Do," and "Buckdance" present him at his most eclectic considering the wide-ranging music styles from which these pieces are derived. "St. Louis Blues" and "Salty Dog" are apparently two songs with which Williams became familiar by listening to them on record, whereas "I Know What It Means to Be Lonesome" and "When the Roses Bloom Again" come from bluegrass and mountain ballad (i.e. white) sources. As with any worthwhile songster, blues constituted an important part of this musician's stock of material, whether they were learned from other sources ("Lucky Blues") or resulted from his own creativity ("I'll Follow You," the magnificent "Low and Lonesome," and "Corn Liquor Blues"). Judging by the biographical details I've read, religion may not have been a big part of Williams's life, but you wouldn't know that from listening to his moving interpretation of the spiritual "Some of These Days."

**I'd like to express copious amounts of gratitude and appreciation to Rambling Rolf for sharing copies of these albums with me.

DURING THE LOW AND LONESOME RECORDING SESSIONS

Low and Lonesome (1970)
1. The Chicken
2. Banjo Rag
3. My Girlfriend Left Me
4. Bill's Rag
5. St. Louis Blues
6. Pocahontas
7. Lucky Blues
8. I'll Follow You
9. Up a Lazy River
10. Too Tight
11. Low and Lonesome
12. Total Rag
13. I Know What It Means to Be Lonesome
14. Frankie and Johnny

Blues, Rags and Ballads (1974)
1. Salty Dog
2. Corn Liquor Blues
3. Listen to the Mockingbird
4. Make Me a Pallet on the Floor
5. That's the Human Thing to Do
6. Bubblegum
7. Darktown Strutter's Ball
8. Nobody's Business
9. Buckdance
10. Some of These Days
11. Blake's Rag
12. Railroad Bill
13. When the Roses Bloom Again

Leroy Carr & Scrapper Blackwell - Naptown Blues 1929-1934 (Yazoo, 1973)

2011-11-26T21:46:00.005-06:00

Although the names of pianist Leroy Carr and guitarist Scrapper Blackwell tend to register with most prewar blues aficionados, I feel like these Indianapolis-based musicians still don't get the full respect they deserve nor is their influence on other artists sufficiently acknowledged. Much of this may have to do with the view that they were over-recorded, resulting in their being taken for granted and dismissed as overly-commercial. Sure, the pair remade "How Long - How Long Blues " a few too many times and were also guilty of settling into more of a formulaic approach as the 1920s progressed into the 1930s, but their best sides remain among the greatest guitar-piano duets in blues history. Indeed, many of their songs have become standards of the genre, even if a lot of people don't realize that Carr and/or Blackwell wrote or were the first to record them. Perhaps the best example of their influence is the music of Robert Johnson. While other writers have endlessly rehashed the role that the styles of other Mississippi Delta blues guitarists had played in his development, it can persuasively be argued that material by Carr and Blackwell shaped Johnson's approach more than any other single source.

LEROY CARR TINKLING THE IVORIES

Leave it to Yazoo to put together a first-rate collection of the duo's late-1920s and early-1930s material that doesn't include better-known but perhaps overly-familiar sides such as "How Long - How Long," "You Got to Reap What You Sow," and "Blues Before Sunrise." To wit, the imaginatively-compiled Naptown Blues 1929-1934 emphasizes Carr and Blackwell's less-celebrated uptempo songs that to my non-musician ears sound insufficiently low-down to be considered blues in the traditional 12-bar sense. However one assesses these 14 tracks, they demonstrate how perfectly the musicians complemented each other and why they are the standard by which all other contemporary piano-guitar combinations are judged. This is especially apparent on irresistibly rhythmic numbers clearly intended for dancing including "Carried Water for the Elephant" and "Low Down Dog Blues," with the circus-themed lyrics of the first title giving it an almost novelty-tune feel. The similar "Papa Wants a Cookie," "Gettin' All Wet," "Memphis Town," and "Papa Wants to Knock a Jug" maintain the joyous mood and feature the added bonus of some infectious duet vocals. The laid-back melancholia of the title track, "I Keep the Blues," "What More Can I Do," "Fore Day Rider," and "Hold Them Puppies" find Carr and Blackwell performing in the somber vein with which they are more generally associated, while "Longing for My Sugar" and a cover of Irving Berlin's "How About Me?" show how they can successfully interpret even sentimental pop-oriented pieces such as these. Josh White plays second guitar (a National, to be precise) on the former and replaces Blackwell entirely on the Charlie Spand-esque "Bread Baker."

**A sincere THANK YOU to Pieter making an exquisite-sounding rip of this album available to me.

THE CRIMINALLY-UNDERRATED FRANCIS "SCRAPPER" BLACKWELL

1. Carried Water for the Elephant
2. Low Down Dog Blues
3. Papa Wants a Cookie
4. Naptown Blues
5. Bread Baker
6. I Keep the Blues
7. Gettin' All Wet
8. What More Can I Do?
9. Longing for My Sugar
10. Fore Day Rider
11. How About Me?
12. Memphis Town
13. Hold Them Puppies
14. Papa Wants to Knock a Jug

Drove from Home Blues (Flywright, 1988; 1992)

2011-11-19T23:50:00.003-06:00

Not every great blues collection needs to be compiled on a regional or thematic basis. Sometimes it's possible to throw together a bunch of songs that end up perfectly complementing each other without any advanced planning. I speak from experience on this one, having made innumerable improvised Blues Archives cassette samplers for friends back in my high school and college days in an attempt to convert them into becoming fans of this particular musical genre.

WRIGHT HOLMES, 1967

The common thread running through the 23 tracks on Drove from Home Blues are the 1946-1952 time frame during which they were recorded as well as their having been originally released on 20th Century and Gotham labels. Additionally, the selections presented here all serve as fine examples of material by performers who were old enough to have been raised on prewar blues styles but were also adapting their approach to the increasingly-electrified immediate postwar era before the Chicago formula (a la Chess Records) became established. As such, these songs bear some similarity to those on the equally worthwhile Rural Blues Vol. 1 (1934-1956) on Document.

Varied collection that it is, this CD includes performances by bluesmen from all over the United States. The stark and at-times Lightnin' Hopkins-esque "Good Road Blues," "Alley Special," and "Drove from Home Blues" by Wright Holmes demonstrate that Houston, Texas produced nearly as many fine musicians as did the Mississippi Delta, while the mysterious Sonny Boy Johnson's "Quinsella," "Netta Mae," "She's Alright with Me," and "I Done Got Tired" display the twin influences of Hammie Nixon and Sonny Boy Williamson No. 1, suggesting a possible Tennessee origin for this harmonica player. Although Nathaniel "Stick Horse" Hammond was born in Dallas, Texas, he is generally thought of as a Shreveport, Louisiana blues artist. The archaic-sounding "Little Girl" and "Truck 'Em on Down" are in keeping with his reputed 1896 birth date, putting him somewhere in his early 50s when these tracks were recorded. According to Larry Hoffman's booklet notes, the little-known David Pete McKinley also hailed from Shreveport and, judging by my ears, was likely to have been around the same age as Hammond since "Ardelle" and "Shreveport Blues" both seem to have been cut from a musical cloth similar to that of the aforementioned two tracks. Nearly half of this album is devoted to musicians associated with the East Coast Piedmont region, with the greatest number of selections belonging to the Blind Boy Fuller-influenced guitarist Ralph Willis, including "So Many Days," "That Gal's No Good," "Goin' to Chattanooga," "New Goin' Down Slow," "Steel Mill Blues," and "I Will Never Love Again." Doug Quattlebaum's "Don't Be Funny, Baby" deserves recognition as one of the most menacing blues ever recorded, whereas "News for You Baby," "No Love Blues," "Lonesome Room," and "Baby Let's Have Some Fun" qualify as some of harmonicist Sonny Terry's finest pre-folk revival sides. Thrown in for good measure, Drove from Home Blues closes with Muddy Waters' debut as a commercial artist from 1946, the embryonic "Mean Red Spider" (a song that he would re-record for Chess a couple of years later), which was erroneously attributed to "James 'Sweet Lucy' Carter and his Orchestra."

**Many thanks to ND, MD for providing this generous share.

THE YOUNG MUDDY WATERS DURING HIS
EARLY DAYS IN CHICAGO, CIRCA LATE 1940s

1. Good Road Blues - Wright Holmes
2. Alley Special - Wright Holmes
3. Quinsella - Sonny Boy Johnson
4. Drove from Home Blues - Wright Holmes
5. Ardelle - David Pete McKinley
6. Little Girl - Stick Horse Hammond
7. Truck 'Em on Down - Stick Horse Hammond
8. Netta Mae - Sonny Boyd Johnson
9. She's Alright with Me - Sonny Boy Johnson
10. I Done Got Tired - Sonny Boy Johnson
11. Shreveport Blues - David Pete McKinley
12. So Many Days - Ralph Willis
13. That Gal's No Good - Ralph Willis
14. Don't Be Funny, Baby! - Doug Quattlebaum
15. Goin' to Chattanooga - Ralph Willis
16. New Goin' Down Slow - Ralph Willis
17. News for You Baby - Sonny Terry
18. No Love Blues - Sonny Terry
19. Steel Mill Blues - Ralph Willis
20. I Will Never Love Again - Ralph Willis
21. Lonesome Room - Sonny Terry
22. Baby Let's Have Some Fun - Sonny Terry
23. Mean Red Spider - Muddy Waters

Product Plug: Ugly Things #32...and what you can do to stop the Internet Blacklist Bill

2011-11-19T23:49:00.002-06:00

OK, I'll start this announcement out by addressing the more pleasant of the two topics. I'm pleased to tell you that my definitive historical piece (written under my print media nom de plume) on 1960s-early 1970s downstate Illinois rock legends the Finchley Boys is one of the articles featured in issue #32 of Ugly Things magazine. Check it out. And as usual, there's loads of other great reading material in Mike Stax's labor of love.

"DUDE, THE CAMERA'S THAT WAY!" - FINCHLEY BOYS AT THE "CHANCES R"
CLUB, CIRCA 1966 - CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: JIM COLE, GLENN CRONKHITE,
MARK WARWICK, GEORGE FABER, STEVE DYSON, & LARRY "TABE" TABELING

FINCHLEY BOYS MK. II, CIRCA 1968 - L TO R: J. MICHAEL
POWERS, TABE, GEORGE FABER, & GARRETT OOSTDYK

On a more serious note, we here in the United States are once again under serious threat from corporations and the lapdog politicians at their beck and call. This time they want to curtail the information that people can post on the internet. The Protect IP Act (aka the Internet Blacklist Bill) is currently being considered by Congress. The bloated entertainment industry, which does their part in providing the bread and circuses that help keep Americans from thinking about more important matters, wants to have the unchecked ability to censor anything that they claim infringes on their so-called intellectual property rights. Whatever legitimate claims they might have, it's another piece of legislation that throws out the baby with the bathwater since it would essentially give them the power to control how people communicate, thus raising serious issues about violating our cherished freedom of speech. This blog is supposed to be a refuge from unsavory things like politics, so I'm not going to dwell on this depressing subject any further other than to encourage all of you to contact your Representatives and Senators, and tell them to vote against this totalitarian bill.

Read more about what you can do: HERE.

Also, take five minutes to watch this video to learn the pertinent details:

PROTECT IP Act Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

The Mystery Trend - San Francisco Museum of Modern Art - December 2, 1965

2011-11-17T23:59:00.006-06:00

The Mystery Trend are rightly recognized for their importance as one of the earliest first-wave underground bands from 1960s San Francisco who emerged around the same time as other trailblazing groups such as the Charlatans and the Great Society. I regret not liking these guys more than I do, although it's not for lack of trying. At one time, their So Glad I Found You CD was part of my music collection, but it so underwhelmed me that I included it as a throw-in as part of a trade with a fellow collector several years ago.

THE MYSTERY TREND, LATE 1965 - L TO R: BOB CUFF, RON
NAGLE, LARRY WEST, JOHN LUBY, & LARRY BENNETT

While musical iconoclasts are usually right up my alley, the Mystery Trend's unique characteristics unfortunately worked against them in regard to their Bay Area contemporaries. The "San Francisco Sound" remains difficult, if not impossible, to define in a technical sense, although two of its most important components, folk rock and psychedelia, essentially remained absent from the list of ingredients that contributed to this band's stylistic approach. Indeed, other writers have pointed out that the Trend possessed an oeuvre that was instead primarily influenced by the British Invasion, R&B, and contemporary pop music as filtered through a sensibility that can best be described as equal parts garage band-ish and art student-esque. Folk rock and psych have consistently appealed to me more than 1960s proto-punk throughout my time as a record collector, so that probably explains why I've always had more respect than love for this particular aggregation.

PERFORMING AT THE STUDIO OF CERAMICIST PETER VOULKOS ON NOV. 27,
1965, JUST A FEW DAYS BEFORE THEIR GIG AT THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART

That said, I figured that somewhere there had to be some in-concert material that presented the Mystery Trend in a better light than what's currently available in an official capacity. Sure enough, something eventually turned up among my network of bootleg traders. Although its total running time spans only 26 minutes, this live set recorded at San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art on December 2, 1965 goes a long way to show why some people hold this band in such high regard. The sound quality is pretty good all things considered, and the general rawness of the performances adds to their appeal as far as I'm concerned. At this point in their history, the Trend still featured a five-man lineup, with Ron Nagle on keyboards/vocals, Larry West on lead guitar, Bob Cuff on rhythm guitar/vocals, Larry Bennett on bass, and John Luby on drums. Things start off with a ten-minute question-and-answer session with the audience in which the group talks about the origin of their name, how they write their songs, their disdain of folk rock, and other pertinent matters. In the accompanying notes, the trader who originally converted his tape of this concert to digital format points out, "At the end of the Q&A sessions, the moderator announces they are going to close the talk with a song by the band, at which point you can hear the band discussing the fact they thought they would get to play a set." As things turned out, the Museum did allow them to perform several titles (all of which seem to be unique to this recording), although the five pieces included here might be only a partial representation of what the group presented to the audience on that evening. In his authoritative article on the Trend in the first issue of Cream Puff War magazine, the esteemed Bay Area music historian Alec Palao describes "Love Moves Around" and "Never" (which unfortunately cuts out before it reaches its conclusion) as "rip-roaring garage blasts with great lead work from Larry West." I'd say that this assessment could also apply to the similar "Do I." Concerning the remaining material, Palao states, "Concurrent with the Great Society, the Trend seemed to have absorbed an experimental, easternish feel to their songwriting by late 1965. Both 'I Wish I Knew' and 'Casbah' reflect this, with droning guitars and sighing harmonies, not unlike some of the Velvet Underground's early stuff; not as noisy or distorted as that band but with similar crescendos of sound." I couldn't have said it better myself.

**Once again, I am indebted to ARK for making yet another musical obscurity available to me. Thanks, man.

1. Question and Answer Session
2. Band Introduction
3. Love Moves Around
4. Do I
5. I Wish I Knew
6. Casbah
7. Never

Field Recordings Volume 5: Louisiana, Texas, Bahamas 1933-1940 (Document, 1997)

2011-11-13T18:28:00.005-06:00

The third installment in this round of reviews on Document's Field Recordings series, Volume 5 compiles an eclectic mix of folk music collected by John and/or Alan Lomax while they conducted research during visits to Louisiana, Texas, and the Bahamas in 1933, 1934, 1935, and 1940. Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter completists will especially enjoy this CD since it contains some of his relatively obscure tracks as well as performances by two of his relatives. Moreover, much of the other material from Louisiana consists of the remaining Library of Congress recordings by three of the musicians featured on I Can Eagle Rock - Jook Joint Blues from Alabama and Louisiana, making it a perfect complementary listening experience. The remaining selections will also be of interest to anyone who enjoys music with roots in the African diaspora.

LEAD BELLY (OUTLINED IN RED) PHOTOGRAPHED AMONG OTHER CONVICTS
IN COMPOUND NUMBER ONE AT ANGOLA STATE PENITENTIARY, JULY 1934

Most, if not all, of the titles by Lead Belly will be familiar to even the most casual of his fans. What makes these particular versions significant is their status as his earliest recordings. The CD's second and third tracks are comprised of fragments of the very first songs he performed for the Lomaxes during the legendary 1933 sessions at Angola State Penitentiary. The deteriorated condition of the original discs unfortunately renders much of them nearly unlistenable. Nevertheless, they retain their historical importance. The a cappella "Shake, Shake Mattie" by an anonymous female inmate also comes from the folklorists' initial visit to the infamous Louisiana prison, although no other information is available. "Mr. Tom Hughes' Town," "I Got up This Morning, Had to Get up Soon," "Western Cowboy," "Blind Lemon Blues," and "Matchbox Blues," which date from a follow-up visit to Angola in 1934, feature considerably improved sound quality as a result of using more advanced recording equipment and are arguably the best renditions of these songs that Lead Belly ever did.

LEAD BELLY PERFORMS FOR JOHN LOMAX WHILE TWO
OTHER ANONYMOUS ANGOLA INMATES OBSERVE, 1934

The remainder of the Louisiana tracks also include "(Don't) The Moon Look Pretty," an appealingly ragged piece from the "spasm band" (which consists of harmonica, kazoo, washboard, and various homemade percussion instruments) Curtis Harton & Group, and the French vocal performance "Les Haricots Sont Pas Sales" by an aggregation that Howard Rye's booklet notes refer to as as "Jimmy Peters And Ring Dance Singers." Whereas the previously-cited I Can Eagle Rock focuses on the blues songs of Joe Harris, Kid West, and Noah Moore (Lead Belly's cousin), the still-worthwhile "Railroad Rag," "Nobody's Business If I Do," "Bully of the Town," "Old Hen Cackled and Rooster Laid an Egg," and "I Done Tole You" represent the folk material that the elder Lomax preferred gathering for the Library. Moore accompanies his grandfather (and uncle of Lead Belly) Bob Ledbetter on another version of "(Goodnight) Irene", which proves interesting for the sake of comparison despite the latter's suspect recollection of how he learned it. A stark version of the well-documented "Boll Weevil" by unaccompanied singer Willie George Albertine King concludes the field recordings from Louisiana. The irresistibly-named Sin-Killer Griffin and his congregation represent Texas on the sanctified titles "Wasn't That a Mighty Storm" and "The Man of Calvary," which were both recorded during a visit to Darrington State Farm in Sandy Point on Easter Sunday 1934. The featured musicians from the Bahamas - David Pryor, Elizabeth Austin, the Nassau String Band, and others - perform a variety of material including a launching tune ("Roll 'im on Down"), gospel ("Dig My Grave"), sea shanties ("Round the Bay of Mexico," "Bowline"), a ring game song ("Sail, Gal"), a dance number ("Hallie Rock"), and a relatively sophisticated ensemble performance ("Bimini Gal"). Although these selections possess some similarities to the material by the American musicians on this CD, they remain distinctively Bahamian enough to be interesting on their own merits, even if the notes somewhat dismissively describe them as "mainly functional."

UNCLE BOB LEDBETTER, 1940

LOUISIANA
1. Shake, Shake Mattie - Unidentified Female Singer
2. a) The Western Cowboy b) Honey, Take a Whiff on Me c) Angola Blues d) Angola Blues e) Frankie and Albert - Huddie Ledbetter
3. a) Irene b) Take a Whiff on Me c) You Cain' Lose Me, Cholly d) Irene e) Irene f) Ella Speed - Huddie Ledbetter
4. Mr Tom Hughes' Town - Huddie Ledbetter
5. I Got up This Morning, Had to Get up Soon - Huddie Ledbetter
6. Western Cowboy - Huddie Ledbetter
7. Blind Lemon Blues - Huddie Ledbetter
8. Matchbox Blues ("Hawaiian Blues") - Huddie Ledbetter
9. Don't the Moon Look Pretty - Curtis Harton & Group
10. Les Haricots Sont Pas Sales - Jimmy Peters
11. Railroad Rag - Joe Harris & Kid West
12. Nobody's Business If I Do - Joe Harris & Kid West
13. Bully of the Town - Joe Harris & Kid West
14. Old Hen Cackled and Rooster Laid an Egg - Joe Harris & Kid West
15. I Done Tole You - Noah Moore
16. Irene - Uncle Bob Ledbetter & Noah Moore
17. Boll Weevil - Willie George Albertine King

TEXAS
18. Wasn't That a Mighty Storm - Sin-Killer Griffin
19. The Man of Calvary (Easter Service) - Sin-Killer Griffin

BAHAMAS
20. Roll 'im on Down - David Pryor
21. Dig My Grave - David Pryor
22. Round the Bay of Mexico - David Pryor
23. Bowline - David Pryor
24. Sail, Gal - Elizabeth Austin
25. Hallie Rock - Group from Nassau, w/drum
26. Bimini Gal - Nassau String Band

Field Recordings Volume 4: Mississippi & Alabama 1934-1942 (Document, 1997)

2011-11-08T23:04:00.003-06:00

In the present malaise that the United States currently finds itself, almost every taxpayer-funded federal program has come under attack regardless of the critics' political persuasions. Socialism has always been a dirty word in my country despite the fact that the government has practiced it to one degree or another since at least the 1930s. Although our corrupt elected officials bear most of the blame for all the wasteful expenditures that are contributing to the humongous national debt, that does not mean every project financed with public money necessarily has to be a boondoggle. One of the best examples that supports my belief is the vast collection of folk music recordings collected for the Library of Congress primarily by John and Alan Lomax during the 1930s and early 1940s. That this monumental undertaking was achieved during the depths of the Great Depression and the difficult early days of US involvement in World War II makes it even more remarkable. While there are those who might question the economic return on this kind of project, there is no question that America - and the rest of the world for that matter - is aesthetically and culturally richer because of these audio documents. And when it's all said and done, these things that preserve our heritage are far more important than money ever will be.

"HUMOROUS" SIGN OUTSIDE OF PARCHMAN FARM, CIRCA MID 1960s

As its full title indicates, Field Recordings Volume 4 contains material gathered by the elder Lomax in Mississippi and Alabama during the years 1934, 1936, 1937, 1939, 1940, and 1942. Frank Jordan's "I'm Going to Leland," Jim Henry's "I Don't Mind the Weather if the Wind Don't Blow," and Big Joe Butler's "Diamond Joe" provide three more outstanding examples of the seemingly limitless number of unaccompanied vocal performances obtained from Parchman Farm, whereas "Old Cold 'Taters" by Lester Fairley, J.B. Thomas, Clyde Smith, and Theodore Smith and recorded at the Piney Woods School near Jackson, Mississippi sounds like a coon song done in the style of a gospel quartet. On the Eva Grace Boone tracks, which Tony Russell's booklet notes describe as "game songs and folk rhymes," she is backed by a group of children and their polyrhythmic hand-clapping. The recordings by Anne Williams and the (sister?) duo of Catherine and Christeen Shipp are in a similar vein and close out the set of material from Mississippi.

VERA HALL

Leading off the Alabama tracks, "It Ain't Gonna Rain No More" by an unknown group of children more or less picks up where the preceding selections left off. The Blind Jesse Harris performances that were recorded in Livingston, however, are fascinating in spite of their limitations. The ancient-sounding songster is hardly a virtuoso on accordion, and the poor sound quality of the material does not exactly help matters. Nevertheless, there is something very moving about his singing voice. Although obviously compromised by the ravages of time, it still retains a salt-of-the-earth vitality in its ability to provide the listener with an opportunity to hear echoes from a distant past. Of all the tracks, I find "Spanish War" to be the most interesting since it's a rare recorded example of piece on the Spanish-American War, while bad-man ballads such as "Railroad Bill" and "Stagolee" in addition to other late-1800s/early-1900s songs including "Boll Weevil" and "Take a Whiff on Me" place Harris in similar company with Henry Thomas, Lead Belly, and other proto-bluesmen. The titles by Richard Amerson, Henry Hankins, the McDonald Family, the Doc Reed-Henry Reed-Vera Hall trio, Harriet McClintock, and Hettie Godfrey consist of wide-ranging examples of Alabamian a cappella traditions, including work songs ("Steamboat Days," "Ho Boy, Caincha Line?"), gospel music ("Down on Me," "Certainly Lord"), and even a lullaby ("Go to Sleep").

DISC-CUTTING MACHINE (ON LEFT) AND RECORDING EQUIPMENT
INSIDE OF THE LOMAXES' CUSTOMIZED CAR USED FOR FIELD RESEARCH

MISSISSIPPI
1. I'm Going to Leland - Frank Jordan
2. I Don't Mind the Weather if the Wind Don't Blow - Jim Henry
3. Diamond Joe - Big Charlie Butler
4. Old Cold 'Taters - Lester Fairley
5. We're Goin' Around the Mountain - Eva Grace Boone
6. Sissy in the Barn - Eva Grace Boone
7. Little Rose Lee - Eva Grace Boone
8. Old Lady Sittin' in the Dining Room - Eva Grace Boone
9. Little Sally Walker - Eva Grace Boone
10. All Around the Maypole - Eva Grace Boone
11. Ol' Uncle Rabbit - Katherine & Christeen Shipp
12. See-Lye Woman (Sea Lion) - Katherine & Christeen Shipp
13. Gwan Roun' Rabbit - Anne Williams
14. Satisfy - Anne Williams

ALABAMA
15. It Ain't Gonna Rain No More - Unidentified Group
16. Boll Weavil - Blind Jesse Harris
17. Railroad Bill - Blind Jesse Harris
18. Tilas Mack - Blind Jesse Harris
19. Stagolee - Blind Jesse Harris
20. Spanish War - Blind Jesse Harris
21. All the Friends I Got Is Gone - Blind Jesse Harris
22. Goin' to War - Blind Jesse Harris
23. Brady - Blind Jesse Harris
24. Sun Going to Shine in My Door Some Day - Blind Jesse Harris
25. Meridian Jail House - Blind Jesse Harris
26. Didn't He Ramble? - Blind Jesse Harris
27. Take a Whiff on Me - Blind Jesse Harris
28. Kansas City - Blind Jesse Harris
29. I'm Gwine to Texas - Richard Amerson
30. Steamboat Days (Steamboat-Loading Holler) - Richard Amerson
31. Ho Boy, Caincha Line? (Lining Track) - Henry Hankins
32. Rosie - The McDonald Family
33. Knock John Booker to de Low Ground - The McDonald Family
34. Trouble So Hard - Doc Reed, Henry Reed, & Vera Hall
35. Choose Yo Seat - Doc Reed, Henry Reed, & Vera Hall
36. Handwriting on the Wall - Doc Reed, Henry Reed, & Vera Hall
37. Another Man Done Gone - Doc Reed, Henry Reed, & Vera Hall
38. Boll Weavil Blues - Doc Reed, Henry Reed, & Vera Hall
39. Down on Me - Doc Reed, Henry Reed, & Vera Hall
40. Certainly, Lord - Doc Reed, Henry Reed, & Vera Hall
41. Job, Job - Doc Reed, Henry Reed, & Vera Hall
42. Poor Little Johnny - Harriet McClintock
43. Go to Sleep - Harriet McClintock
44. All Hid - Hettie Godfrey

Field Recordings Volume 3: Mississippi 1936-1942 (Document, 1997)

2011-11-03T23:59:00.006-05:00

And so we continue with our posts on Document's excellent series of Field Recordings, which primarily consist of material gathered for the Library of Congress during the 1930s and early 1940s. A review of Volume 1: Virginia 1936-1941 appeared back in June, but I'm going to have to skip over Volume 2: North & South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas since I don't have it in my collection. That title has been out of print for some time now, and I'd appreciate it if anyone who has this CD for sale or who would be willing to make me a copy to get in touch with me.

COLOR-TINTED POSTCARD SHOWING THE CAMPUS OF
THE SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN INSTITUTE, CIRCA 1900

Field Recordings Volume 3 provides numerous examples of Mississippi's incredibly rich black musical heritage. There is a tremendous deal of diversity among the tracks presented here, with the common thread being John or Alan Lomax's involvement in collecting nearly all of them for the LOC's Archive of Folk Song. Once again, a visit to the notorious Parchman Farm State Penitentiary yielded several fascinating performances, including an example of the lost art of train calling (in this instance, the unnamed convict shouts out various stops on the Illinois Central line), a gospel tune ("Lead Me to the Rock" by Wash Dennis, D.B. Prowell, and Charles Sims), and what sounds like a work song ("Rosie [Big Leg Rosie]" by Jeff Webb et al.). Outside the prison walls in other parts of Mississippi, Lomax obtained several more a cappella pieces such as Joe Shores' "Sounding Calls" and Sam Hazel's "Heaving the Leadline" (which were originally used by leadsmen on riverboats to announce water depth measurements to the helmsman) as well as Thomas J. Marshall and Samuel Brooks' field hollers "Arwhoolie," "Oh the Sun's Goin' Down and I Won't Be Here Long (Quittin' Time Song)/(Another) Quittin' Song," and "Mealtime Call." The latter two performers were recorded at the now-defunct Southern Christian Institute near the town of Edwards. Ora Dell Graham apparently was a school teacher who carried on the old tradition of calling, and her obviously thoroughly trained students provide perfect backing vocals on the delightful fragments "Little Girl, Little Girl," "(Jes' A) Pullin' the Skiff," and "Shortenin' Bread." Unfortunately, no information exists regarding the anonymous woman who sings the sonorous "Angel Child."

ALAN LOMAX, 1941

This CD also includes several instrumentals and vocal performances with instrumental accompaniment. As Howard Rye states in the booklet notes, Clarksdale pianist Howard "Jaybird" Jones "comes out of the crossroads at which ragtime, blues, (and) jazz met and merged," which is clearly reflected in his repertory. "The Keghouse Blues" (a revisitation of a number he had originally waxed in 1928 with the similarly-named singer) and "How Long" were recorded by Lewis Wade Jones of Fisk University in 1941 and feature him with guitarist Ollie Upchurch, while the remaining titles date from the following year and were produced under Alan Lomax's supervision. "The Worried Life Blues" (featuring the vocals of Minnie Lee Whitehead), "Fo' Day Blues," "Ragtime Tune," "Walking Billy," "Corrina," and "Careless Love" all have their merits, but the folklorist's endless questioning throughout many of the pieces detract from their listenability. In his attempt to obtain details on the history of Clarksdale piano players from the late 1800s and early 1900s, Lomax was probably trying to produce results similar to what was achieved during Jelly Roll Morton's legendary 1938 sessions for the Library of Congress. The only problems are that he talks too much and Jones proves to be a much less interesting interview subject than his more celebrated counterpart from New Orleans. Volume 3 concludes with seven tracks by multi-instrumentalist Sid Hemphill accompanied by banjoist Lucius Smith, guitarist Alec Askew, bassist Will Head, and various unknown percussionists. "The Carrier Railroad," "The Arkansas Traveler," "Leather Britches," "Rice Straw," and "Soon in the Mornin'" can best be categorized as almost hillbilly-sounding string band performances on which the group leader plays fiddle. On the other hand, "The Devil's Dream" and "When the Ball Is Over" are examples of the considerably more African-derived fife and drum music (or in the case of the first title, quills and drum music), more of which can be heard on the highly recommended Traveling Through the Jungle, an album that includes the remaining material from this 1942 field recording session.

SID HEMPHILL (L) & LUCIUS SMITH, 1959

1. Calling Trains - Old Train Caller from New Orleans
2. Lead Me to the Rock - Wash Dennis
3. Rosie (Big Leg Rosie) - Jeff Webb
4. Mississippi Sounding Calls (A-1) - Joe Shores
5. Mississippi Sounding Calls (B-1) - Joe Shores
6. Arwhoolie (Cornfield Holler) - Thomas J. Marshall
7. Oh the Sun's Goin' Down and I Won't Be Here Long (Quittin' Time Song)/(Another) Quittin' Song - Samuel Brooks
8. Mealtime Call - Samuel Brooks
9. Heaving the Leadline (Calls and Song to the Pilot) - Sam Hazel
10. Little Girl, Little Girl - Ora Dell Graham
11. (Jes' A) Pullin' the Skiff - Ora Dell Graham
12. Shortenin' Bread - Ora Dell Graham
13. The Keghouse Blues - Thomas "Jaybird" Jones
14. Interviews: How Long (two parts) - Thomas "Jaybird" Jones
15. The Worried Life Blues - Thomas "Jaybird" Jones
16. Interview: Fo' Day Blues - Thomas "Jaybird" Jones
17. Unidentified Ragtime Tune - Thomas "Jaybird" Jones
18. Walking Billy - Thomas "Jaybird" Jones
19. Unidentified Ragtime Tune / Interview - Thomas "Jaybird" Jones
20. Interview (1, 2, 3) - Thomas "Jaybird" Jones
21. Corrina - Thomas "Jaybird" Jones
22. Careless Love - Thomas "Jaybird" Jones
23. Angel Child - Unidentified Female Singer
24. The Carrier Railroad (The Carrier Line) - Sid Hemphill
25. The Arkansas Traveler - Sid Hemphill
26. The Devil's Dream - Sid Hemphill
27. Leather Britches - Sid Hemphill
28. Rice Straw - Sid Hemphill
29. After the Ball Is Over - Sid Hemphill
30. Soon in the Mornin' - Sid Hemphill

Waylon Jennings - Leavin' Town (RCA Victor, 1966)

2011-10-31T23:59:00.002-05:00

On a song-by-song basis, Leavin' Town qualifies as my favorite Waylon Jennings album from the 1960s. There's not a bad track on here (indeed, every song is at least very good) if you like the kind of country music that I do. The "Folk Country" emblem to the right of the title on the album cover provides a more or less accurate description of the record's musical contents and was possibly an attempt by RCA to milk the commercial success of his like-titled debut for the label, which had been released earlier in 1966. In similar fashion to Waylon's other contemporary releases, the only issue with this LP is its brevity, with a total running time of just under a half-hour.

Even though Jennings was still being forced into a mold at this point in his career, one has to give credit to whoever was responsible for assembling this impeccable mix of material by other songwriters and the singer's own compositions and co-compositions. Intentional or not, several selections combine to make Leavin' Town something of a thematic affair since these pieces possess an air of, well, leaving about them. This is especially true on the first three songs in the lineup: the irresistibly twangy title track, the anthemic "Time to Bum Again" (another Harlan Howard gem), and an excellent interpretation of Delbert McClinton's timeless "If You Really Want Me to I'll Go." The firm-yet-sensitive "Baby, Don't Be Looking in My Mind" says everything that women should know about male psychology better than any relationship book on the New York Times best seller list ever could. Side one closes on a gentle note with the soothing "But That's Alright" and "Time Will Tell the Story," which Outlaw-era Jennings fans might find a bit to cloying for their tastes. To my ears, "You're Gonna Wonder About Me" best represents the "Folk Country" sound advertised on the LP sleeve. The Nashville treatment works well on Gordon Lightfoot's classic "For Lovin' Me," while the deliciously mellow "Anita, You're Dreaming" and "Falling for You" further explores Waylon's tender side. The moving "Doesn't Anybody Know My Name," which relates the story of a blinded veteran who experiences a rather bleak homecoming, gets my vote for the album's best performance. The closing track "I Wonder Just Where I Went Wrong" ends thing rather majestically due in large part to the piano and stately organ at the fore of the mix, which was an unusual arrangement in country music at the time.

WAYLON "DEPARTING THE MUNICIPALITY"

1. Leavin' Town
2. Time to Bum Again
3. If You Really Want Me to I'll Go
4. Baby, Don't Be Looking in My Mind
5. But That's Alright
6. Time Will Tell the Story
7. You're Gonna Wonder About Me
8. For Lovin' Me
9. Anita, You're Dreaming
10. Doesn't Anybody Know My Name
11. Falling for You
12. I Wonder Just Where I Went Wrong

Waylon Jennings - Waylon Sings Ol' Harlan (RCA Victor, 1967; mono version)

2011-10-27T23:59:00.005-05:00

With Waylon Jennings' songwriting talents becoming more evident later in his career, an album like this one was a logical move during the early part of his tenure with RCA Victor. Various sources have mentioned the affinity Ol' Hoss had for prolific but under-recorded tunesmith Harlan Howard, whose compositions were also held in high regard by other country musicians as well as the Nashville establishment. Thus, Waylon Sings Ol' Harlan can be enjoyed as an excellent compromise between Jennings' musical inclinations and what was deemed acceptable by the powers that be (were?) in Music City, USA during the 1960s.

Although some of the titles on this LP might be more familiar to readers through better-known interpretations recorded by Buck Owens (who receives co-writing credits on two cuts) and Johnny Cash, each of these dozen songs fits Waylon's performing style like a glove. The accompanying musicians (who might be either Jennings' backing band the Waylors or various Nashville studio cats; the liner notes don't specify) provide outstanding support on every track, helping to make Sings Ol' Harlan an extraordinary record even if it does clock in at only around 28 minutes. The respective singing and songwriting strengths of Jennings and Howard are on full display throughout the album, which emphasizes material that deals with the trials and tribulations of love, including "She Called Me Baby," "Woman, Let Me Sing You a Song," "She's Gone, Gone, Gone," "Beautiful Annabel Lee," "Heartaches by the Number," "Tiger by the Tail" (arguably the definitive version), "Heartaches for a Dime," "Foolin' 'Round," and "In This Very Same Room." The remaining selections - including "Sunset and Vine," "The Everglades," and the poignant "Busted" - are superb examples of Howard's expertise at crafting story-songs with a uniquely Southern flavor and assist in keeping the album's subject matter from becoming one-dimensional. Four or five additional performances of this variety (and goodness knows that there was no shortage of Harlan Howard material from which to choose) would have made this album a genuine masterpiece and given it a running time of approximately 40 minutes, but that's not the way record labels did albums back then. Nevertheless, Waylon Sings Ol' Harlan ranks as one of the best ever LPs of any genre to feature a musician exclusively covering the works of a particular songwriter.

OL' HOSS & OL' HARLAN GONE FISHIN'

1. She Called Me Baby
2. Sunset and Vine
3. Woman, Let Me Sing You a Song
4. The Everglades
5. She's Gone, Gone, Gone
6. Busted
7. Beautiful Annabel Lee
8. Heartaches by the Number
9. Tiger by the Tail
10. Heartaches for a Dime
11. Foolin' 'Round
12. In This Very Same Room

Waylon Jennings - Folk-Country (RCA Victor, 1966)

2011-10-23T20:42:00.005-05:00

I spent this past summer listening to a lot of Waylon Jennings. So many of his songs really seemed to hit home with me then, and, as usual, I kept going back to his pre-Outlaw albums, which many of his fans undervalue because of their adherence to the rules of the Nashville establishment at the time. My 1996-1998 residency in Mississippi was a period during which the number of country LPs in my vinyl collection increased significantly because good, if not rare, stuff from the 1960s and 1970s could be found at local resale shops, yard sales, and flea markets in abundance and for low prices. I scored this Waylon Jennings record and five others for a grand total of 15 dollars one day somewhere outside of Tupelo.

A FRESH-FACED WAYLON JENNINGS CIRCA 1965-1966

Folk-Country was Jennings' fine debut album for RCA. Released in 1966 and consisting of material recorded the previous year, its title could have been more accurately changed to Folk-Country-Rock in reference to the sound of several tracks. This initial effort established the formula that most Waylon Jennings LPs from the 1960s would follow: six tracks per side with a 75%/25% ratio of good-to-great/mediocre-to-lame material (mostly by other songwriters but featuring a few Waylon originals as well) and a total running time of approximately one half-hour. Folk-Country's best moments are those that to my ears sound closest to rock/folk rock ("Stop the World [and Let Me Off]," "Look Into My Teardrops," "Just for You") or are simply examples of prime mid-1960s country (the Marty Robbins-ish "Cindy of New Orleans," "Down Came the World," "That's the Chance I'll Have to Take," "What Makes a Man Wander," "What's Left of Me"). Although Jennings' interpretation of the traditional "I'm a Man of Constant Sorrow" provides a first-rate example of genuine "folk-country," the more deliberate sentimental material ("Another Bridge to Burn," "I Don't Mind," "Now Everybody Knows") only sometimes works. All in all, a very good inaugural major label effort that indicated even better things were still to come.

POSING WITH ACOUSTIC 12-STRING & CUSTOM TELECASTER

1. Another Bridge to Burn
2. Stop the World (and Let Me Off)
3. Cindy of New Orleans
4. Look Into My Teardrops
5. Down Came the World
6. I Don't Mind
7. Just for You
8. Now Everybody Knows
9. That's the Chance I'll Have to Take
10. What Makes a Man Wander
11. I'm a Man of Constant Sorrow
12. What's Left of Me

PRODUCER CHET ATKINS (L) WITH JENNINGS IN THE STUDIO CONTROL ROOM

The Jack Kerouac Collection (Rhino, 1990)

2011-10-16T23:59:00.017-05:00

During my teenage years, Jack Kerouac was a person whose name kept coming up as I gravitated toward particular authors, musicians, and movie directors. Due to these influences, I eventually read the obligatory On the Road and liked it so much that by the time I graduated from college I had acquired copies of most of the writer's other novels for my personal library. I was never the kind of fan who claimed that reading his best-known book was a life-changing event for me, nor did I ever have any desire to emulate his nomadic modus vivendi. What I always liked about Kerouac's best works - with my favorites being On the Road, Maggie Cassidy, Visions of Cody, Big Sur, and Vanity of Duluoz - was how he told a story, even if the typical plot was usually on the surface nothing more than a series of relatively ordinary events interspersed with exercises in deep introspection. Additionally, there is no author other than Kerouac who has really made me feel like he saw the world much in the same way that I do. However, what ultimately makes him such a compelling writer is his ahead-of-its-time postmodern view of postwar America, which, whether he liked it or not, helped lay the groundwork for the 1960s countercultural explosion.

JACK KEROUAC ABOUT TO GO ON THE ROAD

I played the contents of this box set to death when I first got it in the early 1990s, but it remains one of the most treasured items in my collection even if the CDs don't get much rotation these days. Reading poetry has never much appealed to me, but hearing it read aloud can be a revelatory experience if done properly, which is definitely the case here. These three albums not only feature Kerouac reciting poems with and without musical accompaniment, they also contain some fascinating recordings of his unique stream-of-consciousness-style prose. If you ask me to choose a favorite, I'm going to cop out and tell you that these three discs are all equally great in their own ways. The first, Poetry for the Beat Generation, is probably the most easily accessible due in large part to Steve Allen's impeccable ivory tinkling. In fact, of all the instrumentalists who worked with Kerouac, I think that this pianist (and all-around entertainer) was the most sympathetic. Allen always seems to provide just the right kind of backing on every performance, whether it's a reminiscence of the author's brakeman days ("October in the Railroad Earth"), tributes ("Charlie Parker," "One Mother," "Abraham," "The Moon Her Majesty"), humorous bits ("Deadbelly," "Goofing at the Table," "Dave Brubeck" "I'd Rather Be Thin Than Famous"), meditations on transcendentalism ("The Sounds of the Universe Coming in My Window," "The Wheel of the Quivering Meat Conception" - how are those for thought-provoking titles?), New York-centric pieces ("Bowery Blues," "McDougal Street Blues"), or the album's centerpiece ("I Had a Slouch Hat Too One Time"), which sounds like a fascinating excerpt from the memoir of an early 20th-century drifter/petty criminal. The fantastic bonus track presents Kerouac reading passages from On the Road and Visions of Cody with full band accompaniment on a Steve Allen Show broadcast from 1959 and leaves the listener pining for more. Blues and Haikus comes off as perhaps the most stereotypically beatnik-sounding of these three LPs, especially on the opening track "American Haikus," which consists of alternately deep or amusing short poems separated by brief solos by saxophonists Al Cohn (who also plays piano on some tracks) and Zoot Sims. "Hard Hearted Old Farmer" brings attention to Kerouac's awkward singing but endearing French Canadian/New England accent ("Hahd Hahted Old Fahmah"), while the sometimes rambling and chaotic "The Last Hotel & Some of Dharma," "Poems from the Unpublished Book of Blues," "Old Western Movies," and "Conclusion of the Railroad Earth" are perhaps best appreciated while in an altered state of mind. A lot of fans rally around Readings on the Beat Generation as the best of this bunch, believing the optimum way to experience the writer's voice is by itself. Indeed, Kerouac's natural rhythm makes itself evident to such an extent throughout this album that all those literary theories which cite the influence of jazz on his writing style don't seem so ridiculous after all. "The Beat Generation" remains the definitive spoken word piece on the movement, while "Poems (Fragments)" can be considered this record's equivalent to "American Haikus," - i.e. short compositions that often speak volumes. The two-part "Lucien Midnight" qualifies as the most abstract work here and is utterly inscrutable at times. "Fantasy" though it may be, "The Early History of Bop" presents a more convincing a theory on the origins of this jazz sub-genre than any scholarly musicological treatise ever could. In short, it's an utter masterpiece of recorded monologue. "Excerpts from The Subterraneans" utilizes one of the best sections from an otherwise so-so book, whereas the gripping but slightly bowdlerized "Visions of Neal: Neal and the Three Stooges, Pts. I & II" is an essential part of my all-time favorite Kerouac book, Visions of Cody. As its outlandish title suggests, it covers everything from Neal Cassady to Moe, Larry, and Curly and all points in between. Finally, "Is There a Beat Generation?" from the like-named academic conference at Brandeis University in 1958, may not provide a clear answer to the question, but at the very least it allows Kerouac to provide his audience with some laughs while also leading them on a heartfelt nostalgic trip through his childhood memories of prewar America.

Disc 1 - Poetry for the Beat Generation - with Steve Allen (Hanover, 1959)
1. October in the Railroad Earth
2. Deadbelly
3. Charlie Parker
4. The Sounds of the Universe Coming in My Window
5. One Mother
6. Goofing at the Table
7. Bowery Blues
8. Abraham
9. Dave Brubeck
10. I Had a Slouch Hat Too One Time
11. The Wheel of the Quivering Meat Conception
12. McDougal Street Blues
13. The Moon Her Majesty
14. I'd Rather Be Thin Than Famous
Bonus track
15. Readings from On the Road and Visions of Cody (from The Steve Allen Plymouth Show)

Disc 2 - Blues and Haikus / Featuring Al Cohn and Zoot Sims (Hanover, 1959)
1. American Haikus
2. Hard Hearted Old Farmer
3. The Last Hotel & Some of Dharma
4. Poems from the Unpublished Book of Blues
Bonus tracks
5. Old Western Movies
6. Conclusion of the Railroad Earth

Disc 3 - Readings by Jack Kerouac on the Beat Generation (Verve, 1960)
1. The Beat Generation
2. Poems (Fragments)
a) San Francisco
b) Street Scene
c) Money Honey
d) Westinghouse Elevators
e) Old Age
f) Praised Be Man
g) The Sad Turtle
3. Lucien Midnight: The Sound of the Universe in My Window, Pt. I
4. Lucien Midnight: The Sound of the Universe in My Window, Pt. II
5. Fantasy: The Early History of Bop
6. Excerpts from The Subterraneans
7. Visions of Neal: Neal and the Three Stooges, Pt. I
8. Visions of Neal: Neal and the Three Stooges, Pt. II
Bonus track
9. Is There a Beat Generation? (from the Is There a Beat Generation? forum at Brandeis University)

Ian and Sylvia - Play One More (Vanguard, 1966)

2011-10-11T23:04:00.002-05:00

With this being the ninth post devoted to Canadian folk duo Ian and Sylvia, I'm getting pretty close to running out of things to write about them in general. Obviously, I'm a big fan, a situation aided by their prolific nature as recording artists during the 1960s. One can still find used copies of their LPs without extraordinary effort and at reasonable prices. While Ian and Sylvia always remained faithful to their folk roots, they also were not apprehensive about letting their music evolve and embracing the changes of that aforementioned decade on their own terms. Such an approach did not always yield successful results, although more often than not it did. The 1960s folk revival produced few other musicians who not only wrote much of their own material but could also cover old British Isles ballads and new compositions by Greenwich Village troubadours with equal skill.

Released in 1966, Play O ne More marks a transitional stage of the pair's career in between their earlier, more straightforward folk albums and the baroque folk rock/country efforts that came afterward. Even though some tracks feature the all-acoustic instrumentation that typified the sound of previous Vanguard releases, others are conspicuous by their inclusion of organ or orchestral arrangements. Additionally, this is the LP on which Ian's former profession as a rodeo rider really makes itself apparent in many of the songs, giving it a pronounced country-and-western-by-way-of-Canada flavor. Performances of this variety include originals "Short Grass" and the title track (which effectively utilizes horns much in the same manner as "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash), readings of the traditional "When I Was a Cowboy" and "Molly and Tenbrooks" (the latter being a showcase for some outstanding banjo picking by Eric Weissberg), and fantastic covers of the more recent (relative to the mid 1960s, that is) "Twenty-Four Hours from Tulsa" and "A Satisfied Mind." While perhaps not as well-known as "Four Strong Winds" and "You Were on My Mind," the dolorous "French Girl" (on which bassist Felix Pappalardi arranged the string section) proved to be influential enough to warrant interpretations by contemporary folk rockers Gene Clark and the Daily Flash to name but two. Speaking of cover versions, Ian and Sylvia's take on Phil Ochs's "Changes" compares extremely favorably with the original, and they even manage to make lightweight Scott McKenzie's "Hey What About Me" palatable. The pleasant "Lonely Girls" and "Friends of Mine" recall performances from their earlier albums, although my least favorite track, "Gifts Are for Giving," would have been an awkward fit on just about anything in their discography.

IAN AND SYLVIA SOMEWHERE ON THE PLAINS OF ALBERTA

1. Short Grass
2. The French Girl
3. When I Was a Cowboy
4. Changes
5. Gifts Are for Giving
6. Molly and Tenbrooks
7. Hey What About Me
8. Lonely Girls
9. Satisfied Mind
10. Twenty-Four Hours from Tulsa
11. Friends of Mine
12. Play One More

Product Plug: Beau - Creation Recreated (Cherry Red, 2011)

2011-10-11T23:03:00.003-05:00

NOTHING TO DOWNLOAD HERE...WELL, AT LEAST NOT FOR FREE

Among the great things about being a music blogger are the opportunities I've had to make connections with some of my favorite recording artists whose albums I've reviewed here. Pursuant to my post on his transcendent debut LP, I've begun corresponding with Trevor Midgley (aka "Beau" aka "John Trevor"), who was kind enough to grant my request to be interviewed for an upcoming biographical article that is tentatively slated to appear in issue #33 of Ugly Things magazine. In exchange, I told him that I would be more than happy to help promote the re-release of his mind-blowing followup effort Creation (retitled Creation Recreated), which was recorded with Dandelion Records labelmates Jim Milne and Steve Clayton of The Way We Live/Tractor. It's truly an album like no other and has been enhanced with the inclusion of 11 bonus tracks.

So without any further ado, here are the pertinent details from Trevor's website:

CREATION + 11 BONUS TRACKS,
AVAILABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME AS
A DOWNLOAD!

(Click here for full lyrics, song stories, and all recording details.)

Described by one US radio station as “the first psych-folk album”, the original Creation recordings from John Peel’s Dandelion label have now been remastered and made available to download for the first time.

Four tracks have been remixed for this Cherry Red release of Creation Recreated.

Of the ELEVEN BONUS TITLES, ten have never been released before, including four songs from 1972’s High Mass sessions (with The Way We Live / Tractor®) and three from 1975’s Twelve Strings To The Beau.

The set is downloadable from Amazon, Amazon.co.uk, iTunes and all your favourite distribution services (more distribution services listed here).

Two thoughts, with several decades between:

In his 1971 Creation review, Al Clark concluded;

“Beau (is)… a direct descendant of folk music before stardom moved in.” (Time Out)

Almost forty years later, Simon Crisp had another perspective;

“‘Silence Returns’… descend(s) into a frenzied 3-minute guitar thrash that fades out with some ethereal and chilling 12-string … ‘Blind Faith’ brings a depth of emotion that simply shouldn’t be possible … Beau (is) a talented singer-songwriter with a superlative 12-string technique …” (Galactic Ramble, 2009)

Neither of these guys had heard Creation Recreated!

Lonesome Road Blues: 15 Years in the Mississippi Delta 1926-1941 (Yazoo, 1974; 1991)

2011-10-03T23:59:00.005-05:00

A key title in my development as a fan of this kind of music, Lonesome Road Blues: 15 Years in the Mississippi Delta 1926-1941 ranks among the best compilations of its kind ever assembled. Then again, what else would you expect from Yazoo Records, the greatest of all blues reissue labels? For whatever reason, Shanachie used different cover artwork when they reissued this album on CD in the early 1990s. You can check out what the original vinyl version looks like over at Stefan Wirz's website, one of the Internet's most valuable resources for research on recorded blues.

SAM COLLINS

This fantastic collection focuses on both legends of the genre as well as some less-celebrated but nonetheless important prewar Mississippi Delta bluesmen, although approximately half of those featured on this disc had relocated to Chicago by the time they started making records. One such figure is the prolific nine-string guitarist Big Joe Williams, whose "Little Leg Woman" dates from his very first session for Bluebird in 1935 and finds him making some of the rawest and most interesting music of his career, due largely to his unique sense of rhythm and utilization of Charlie Patton-inspired string snapping. Although Arthur Pettis had also transplanted himself to the Windy City from the Delta, his musical approach on the melodic "Good Boy Blues" is more akin to that of Big Bill Broonzy as discussed in Stephen Calt and John Miller's worthwhile booklet notes. Eugene "Sonny Boy Nelson" Powell is arguably the most neglected of all prewar Mississippi blues guitarists, and his superb "Street Walkin'" should be better known than it is. Sticklers for detail might object to the inclusion of Sam Collins (a so-so guitarist but a fantastic singer) on this comp since he hailed from the southern part of the state, which is outside the Delta region. Moreover, his repertory, including "Lonesome Road Blues" and "My Road Is Rough and Rocky," leaves him sounding more like a songster than someone who focused exclusively on blues as we understand the musical style today. Regardless, his two sides at the very least provide some variety. To be precise, Caldwell "Mississippi" Bracey (no apparent relation to Ishmon) was a blues singer and guitarist from the central part of the state instead of the Delta, but this should not detract from the magnificence of his two best sides, the haunting "Cherry Ball" (with Charlie McCoy providing accompaniment on second guitar) and the hypnotically rhythmic "Stered Gal," whose title, according to the notes, is "a recording executive's translation of 'stir it, gal.'" Often mentioned in the same breath as the less-interesting Tommy McClennan, Robert Petway recorded some of the finest blues of the early 1940s as his definitive version of "Catfish Blues" makes abundantly clear. According to Gayle Dean Wardlow's research, Freddie Spruell lived in Lake Providence, Louisiana before coming up to Chicago sometime before waxing some of the earliest-ever country blues sides for the OKeh label in 1926. (While his previous residence lay beyond the Mississippi state line, one should remember that the Mississippi Delta properly refers to the flat Southern former swampland that borders both sides of the Mississippi River, thus explaining the inclusion of certain parts of eastern Louisiana and Arkansas in the Delta region.) His unique instrumental style is well represented on the percolating "Milk Cow Blues" (with an amusing spoken-word introduction provided by an unknown associate) and the menacing 12-string guitar tour de force "Tom Cat Blues." Isaiah "The Mississippi Moaner" Nettles for the most part qualifies as a biographical blank, but he did at least leave us with perhaps the best Blind Lemon Jefferson cover ever attempted, an interpretation of "Long Lonesome Blues" retitled "It's Cold in China Blues" and played at breakneck speed. Despite Skip James's dismissal of his one-time student as a "dummy," Johnnie Temple sublimely reworks "Devil Got My Woman" as "The Evil Devil Blues" with assistance from the supporting guitar work of the ubiquitous Charlie McCoy. Essentially a cover of "Sweet Home Chicago," "Take a Little Walk with Me" finds Robert Lockwood, Jr. still firmly under the musical sway of his "step-father" Robert Johnson, but his precise fretwork is an enjoyable listening experience all the same. And what more really needs to be said about Skip James's unparalleled frantic guitar masterpiece "I'm So Glad"? As a non-musician, I can't even begin to imagine how someone could play this piece.

ROBERT PETWAY

1. Little Leg Woman - Big Joe Williams
2. Good Boy Blues - Arthur Pettis
3. Street Walkin' - Sonny Boy Nelson
4. Lonesome Road Blues - Sam Collins
5. Cherry Ball - Mississippi Bracey
6. Catfish Blues - Robert Petway
7. Tom Cat Blues - Freddie Spruell
8. It's Cold in China Blues - The Mississippi Moaner
9. The Evil Devil Blues - Johnnie Temple
10. Take a Little Walk with Me - Robert Lockwood
11. My Road Is Rough and Rocky - Sam Collins
12. Stered Gal - Mississippi Bracey
13. Milk Cow Blues - Freddie Spruell
14. I'm So Glad - Skip James

Mac Gayden - Skyboat & Hymn to the Seeker (ABC, 1976; 2008)

2011-10-02T14:58:00.003-05:00

Guitarist extraordinaire, superb singer-songwriter, veteran Nashville session musician, and alumnus of Area Co de 615 and Barefoot Jerry: McGavock "Mac" Gayden is all these things but remains sadly underappreciated by everyone other than the record-collecting cognoscenti. I first became aware of this cult artist through his involvement with those two aforementioned groups. Although Gayden's brief tenure with Barefoot Jerry ended after the release their first album, his contributions were what made Southern Delight the group's greatest achievement and, for that matter, an absolute masterpiece of the Southern rock sub-genre. His background as a native Tennessean obviously bolstered his country music credentials, but rock and especially soul exerted just as strong an influence on his writing and performing style. Like all great guitarists, Gayden has an immediately recognizable trademark sound made possible through dual utilization of slide and wah-wah techniques that is familiar to most people through his work as a sideman on numerous JJ Cale albums. In a nutshell, I'd describe his instrumental approach as being similar to that of Duane Allman but without the amphetamines.

IT'S A BIRD...IT'S A PLANE...IT'S A SKYBOAT?

This two-CD set includes Gayden's second and third solo albums, which were both released on ABC in 1976 but met with little commercial success. Both exhibit an eclectic blend of musical ingredients, with some of the material being logical extensions of the work he did with Area Code 615 and Barefoot Jerry, while other more groove-laden tracks might catch the listener somewhat by surprise. Its slick production notwithstanding, Skyboat (whose title Gayden would adopt as the name for his backing band) comes off as the more interesting of the two LPs. The best tracks are those that could be described as a sort Southern rock and emphasize his unmistakable guitar style, including the gorgeous "Morning Glory" and the equally compelling "Waterboy." The gentle, more-rural sounding "Gettysburg" and "Appalachian Fever" allow Gayden to show off his chops on banjo, whereas the atmospheric "Southwind" and the mellifluous "Sunfall" (a B-side not originally included on the album) focus more on his ethereal vocals. "Everlasting Love" bears distinction as his best-known song due largely to numerous hit interpretations done by other musicians, including Robert Knight, the Love Affair, Gloria Estefan(!), and, most recently, Jamie Cullum. In the composer's own hands, it sounds like something that is very much a product of the time when it was recorded. Those who can deal with its disco-like arrangements will be rewarded with hooks aplenty and more of Gayden's awe-inspiring fretwork. The same can more or less be said for "Freedom Drum" and "Sweet Serenity." Decent takes on "Don't Look Back" and "It's All Right" (a rip of the latter from my vinyl copy of Skyboat is included because it sounds like there is a mastering glitch on the CD version) furnish Gayden with an opportunity to indulge in covering two indisputable soul classics. The album's original finale, the ten-and-a-half-minute "Diamond Mandala," is best described as an epic piece of orchestrated acid folk, which, as an exercise in musical mysticism, probably would have appealed to more record buyers in the 1960s than in the 1970s. Gayden's followup effort, Hymn to the Seeker, unfortunately lapses further into disco-era glossiness on many of its tracks. While there is nothing truly terrible about these particular performances, the shoogity boogity nature of songs such as "Steppin' Stone," "Someone Whispered," and "Life Is Just a Pantomime" leave me longing for the more rock-and-country-derived material from his Area Code 615 and Barefoot Jerry days. Somewhat incongruously, the dance-floor-friendly cuts are interspersed with instrumentals ranging from the Fuzak of "Rejoice the Dawn" to the mesmerizing banjo-and-clarinet raga of "To Our Ancestors" (by far the best thing on Hymn) to the stately pipe-organ-and-flute duet of the title track. Elsewhere, there is decent 1970s blue-eyed soul ("Standing in the Background"), idiosyncratic nods to Gayden's Southern roots ("Here We Meet Again" and "Colors of the Rainbow"), a fine if not superior remake of a Barefoot Jerry tune ("The Minstrel Is Free at Last," which features some much-needed guitar soloing that is largely absent elsewhere on this album), and a lovely but frustratingly short closing track ("If I Could I'd Set You Free").

MAC GAYDEN (CENTER) & SKYBOAT SPORT THEIR FUNKY 1970s THREADS

Disc 1 - Skyboat
1. Morning Glory
2. Gettysburg
3. Southwind
4. Everlasting Love
5. Freedom Drum
6. Don't Look Back
7. It's All Right
8. Sweet Serenity
9. Appalachian Fever
10. Waterboy
11. Diamond Mandala
Bonus tracks
12. Sunfall ("Morning Glory" B-side)
13. It's All Right (24-bit vinyl rip)

Disc 2 - Hymn to the Seeker
1. Rejoice the Dawn
2. Steppin' Stone
3. Someone Whispered
4. Standing in the Background
5. Life Is Just a Pantomime
6. Here We Meet Again
7. To Our Ancestors
8. Colors of the Rainbow
9. The Minstrel Is Free At Last
10. Hymn to the Seeker
11. If I Could I'd Set You Free

Nat Adderley - Little Big Horn! (Riverside, 1963; 1998)

2011-09-24T19:17:00.003-05:00

While it probably isn't in the Top Ten lists of any expert jazz critics, Nathaniel "Nat" Adderley's Little Big Horn! remains one of my absolute favorite albums from that particular genre. The outstanding cornetist never received the full amount of respect he deserved due primarily to living under the shadow of his better-known (but, in my opinion, musically less interesting) elder brother, saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley. Nat probably didn't help matters by playing a somewhat obscure instrument, even though I find the cornet's warmer tone to be more sonically pleasing than that of its more popular cousin, the trumpet. And when I talk about cornetists with more knowledgeable jazz record collectors, they almost always seem to state a preference for Don Cherry. Well, to each his or her own.

L TO R: JUNIOR MANCE, NAT ADDERLEY, & KENNY BURRELL

This album is particularly impressive not only because it's an example of mid-1960s jazz at its finest but also because all eight performances were composed or co-composed by Adderley. For this material, he couldn't have chosen a better group of backing musicians: pianist Junior Mance's trio (with a rhythm section of bassist Bob Cranshaw and drummer Mickey Roker) in addition to alternating guitarists Kenny Burrell and the criminally underrated Jim Hall. A variety of musical moods are achieved on Little Big Horn!, with Nat's strong gospel influence plainly making itself evident on many tracks. Things start swinging from the very start on "El Chico," while the more uptempo "Broadway Lady" sounds like it was cut from a similar jazz fabric. I'm most partial to the really driving numbers such as "Foo Foo," "Half-Time" (check out the mono single edit here) and "Hustle with Russell." Back in the day, jazz fans probably would have sub-categorized such material as what was then referred to as"funk," even though this term would later become more widely applied to the music of James Brown, Sly Stone, P-Funk, and their ilk. As on any five-star jazz album, the more rhythmic tracks are nicely balanced by soothing exercises in mellowness, and "Loneliness," "Little Big Horn," and "Roses for Your Pillow" do the honors here.

JIM HALL

1. El Chico
2. Foo Foo
3. Loneliness
4. Little Big Horn
5. Half-Time
6. Broadway Lady
7. Roses for Your Pillow
8. Hustle with Russell

NAT LOOKING RATHER JOLLY

Dion - Sit Down Old Friend (Warner Brothers-Seven Arts, 1970)

2011-09-23T23:08:00.007-05:00

I'll admit that I'm not the world's biggest Dion fan, but that's largely because his early doo-wop stuff really isn't my thing. Even so, the material that he recorded during the mid 1960s through the mid 1970s qualifies as one of the most impressive bodies of work by any musician. In my estimation, he turned the corner toward the end of his tenure with Columbia after a fabled meeting with John Hammond, Sr. during which the Italian kid from the Bronx was introduced to the Mississippi Delta blues of Robert Johnson. Predictably, the artistry of his music substantially increased while the frequency of his hits suffered the opposite fate. From that point, consistently great things happened in the recording studio - including Dion's brief much-deserved return to the charts in 1968 with "Abraham, Martin and John" - up to and including the Phil Spector-produced Born to Be with You.

Sit Down Old Friend was the first of his albums for Warner Brothers and represents one of the most remarkable transformations witnessed in the history of popular music. This LP's beautifully sparse and melancholy acoustic folk solo numbers are about as far removed from "A Teenager in Love" as one can possibly get. Dion's already sublime vocals were never in better form; here they sound like a gentle force of nature. And for those who don't already know what an excellent guitar player he is, you're in for a really nice surprise. Consisting mostly of his own compositions, the track list features 11 exquisite songs of varying subject matter: the religiously-themed but never preachy "Natural Man," "If We Only Had Love," "Let Go, Let God," and "Sit Down Old Friend"; gorgeous love songs such as "I Don't Believe My Race Is Run," "Little Pink Pony," and "Just a Little Girl" (with the latter two concerning one of his daughters); the superb wholly original white boy blues of "Jammed Up," "Sweet Pea," and "King Con Man"; and an inspired Willie Dixon cover ("You Can't Judge a Book") thrown in for good measure. Although not a huge commercial success, Sit Down Old Friend is nothing short of a masterpiece, filled with performances that are among Dion's finest and powerful enough to make grown men cry.

A CONTEMPLATIVE-LOOKING DION MODELS HIS
SHORT-LIVED MUSTACHIOED/STRIPED TANK TOP LOOK

1. Natural Man
2. I Don't Believe My Race Is Run
3. Jammed Up Blues
4. Little Pink Pony
5. You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover
6. If We Only Have Love
7. Sweet Pea
8. Just a Little Girl
9. Let Go, Let God
10. King Con Man
11. Sit Down Old Friend

Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee - Country Blues Troubadors 1938-1948 (JSP, 2004)

2011-09-18T23:41:00.003-05:00

Please don't let me be misunderstood in this mildly critical review. There is some fantastic music on this box set. Indeed, if you're particular to blues recorded post-Robert Johnson and before the era of electric amplification, many of these selections are indisputable period classics. However, this collection is not exactly what it seems to be. While it does contain a staggering number of performances by harmonicist Sonny Terry and guitarist Brownie McGhee, only approximately 20 of the 125 sides included here actually feature the two performing together. Interestingly enough, McGhee is heard playing in the company of the considerably lesser-known harp blower Jordan Webb just as often, if not more so, throughout the tracks on this anthology. Much of this is explained by the fact that Sonny and Brownie didn't really start to become viewed as an inseparable duo until the advent of the postwar folk and blues revivals. (In reality, let's not forget there was quite a bit of animosity between the two that frequently manifested itself in the form of arguments and onstage insult exchanges.) Nevertheless, the material that appears on this set displays an impressive diversity of styles ranging from folk songs to Piedmont blues to gospel to early East Coast R&B. The performances also boast an impressive cast of supporting musicians, including Champion Jack Dupree, Blind Boy Fuller, Stick McGhee, Buddy Moss, and Ralph Willis.

So what is there to gripe about? A couple of minor things, actually. These JSP boxes - this one included - sometimes suffer from the same problem that affects the various multi-volume Complete Recorded Works series on Document. That is, it can be a tedious experience to listen to them in their entirety in one sitting, unlike the more engaging and thoughtfully-sequenced albums on Yazoo. To put it another way, I'd rather hear these songs individually incorporated into a 1930s-1940s blues mix instead of in their present arrangement. While the sound quality on JSP releases is generally superior to their Document counterparts, the same cannot be said about the personnel notes since it's not always clear as to who's playing what on this collection. Those two items aside, there is much to enjoy on Country Blues Troubadors so long as you're not expecting every track to be a Sonny and Brownie duet recording.

Disc A
SONNY TERRY
1. Mountain Blues
2. The New John Henry
3. Fox Chase
4. Lost John
5. Train Whistle Blues
6. New Love Blues
7. Harmonica Blues
8. Harmonica and Washboard Breakdown
9. Harmonica Stomp
10. Harmonica and Washboard Blues
11. Forty-Four Whistle Blues
12. Blowing the Blues
13. Touch It Up and Go
BROWNIE McGHEE
14. Picking My Tomatoes
15. Me and My Dog Blues
16. Born for Bad Luck
17. I'm Callin' Daisy
18. Step It Up and Go
19. My Barkin' Bulldog Blues
20. Let Me Tell You 'Bout My Baby
21. Poison Woman Blues
22. Back Door Stranger
23. Be Good to Me
24. Not Guilty Blues
25. Coal Miner Blues

Disc B
BROWNIE McGHEE
1. Step It Up and Go No. 2
2. Money Spending Woman
3. Death of Blind Boy Fuller (alternate take)
4. Death of Blind Boy Fuller
5. Go to Find My Little Woman
6. I'm a Black Woman's Man (alternate take)
7. I'm a Black Woman's Man
8. Dealing with the Devil
9. Double Trouble (take 1)
10. Double Trouble (take 2)
11. Woman I'm Done
12. Key to My Door
13. Million Lonesome Women
14. Ain't No Tellin'
15. Try Me One More Time
BROTHER GEORGE AND HIS SANCTIFIED SINGERS
16. I Want to See Jesus
17. Done What My Lord Said
18. I Want King Jesus
19. What Will I Do (Without the Lord)
BROWNIE McGHEE
20. Key to the Highway 70 (take 1)
21. Key to the Highway 70 (take 2)
22. I Don't Believe in Love
23. So Much Trouble
24. Goodbye Now
25. Jealous of My Woman

Disc C
BROWNIE McGHEE
1. Unfair Blues
2. Barbecue Any Old Blues
3. Workingman's Blues
4. Sinful Disposition Blues
5. Back Home Blues
6. Deep Sea Diver
7. It Must Be Love
8. Swing, Soldier, Swing (take 1)
9. Swing, Soldier, Swing (take 2)
SONNY TERRY
10. John Henry
11. Fox Chase
12. Fox Chase
13. The Red Cross Store
14. Sweet Woman
15. Fox Chase
BROWNIE McGHEE AND SONNY TERRY
16. That the Stuff (Watch Out)
17. Knockabout Blues (Carolina Blues)
18. Easy Ridin' Buggy
19. Women Lover Blues
SONNY TERRY
20. Run Away Woman
21. Shake Down
BROWNIE AND STICKS McGHEE
22. Movin' to Kansas City
23. Railroad Blues
24. Rocks in My Bed
25. Tennessee Shuffle

Disc D
BROWNIE AND STICKS McGHEE
1. Precious Lord Hold My Hand
2. If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again
BROWNIE McGHEE
3. Rum Cola Papa
4. Mean Old Frisco
5. Sportin' Life Blues
6. Worried Life Blues
7. Brownie's Guitar Boogie
8. Lovin' with a Feeling
9. Night Time Is the Right Time
10. Bad Blood
11. I Don't Care
12. Big Legged Woman
13. B.M. Blues
14. Evil but Kindhearted
15. Seaboard and Southern
16. Dissatisfied Woman
17. How Can I Love You
18. Hello Blues
SONNY TERRY
19. Whoopin' the Blues
20. Leavin' Blues
21. Riff and Harmonica Jump
22. All Alone Blues
BROWNIE McGHEE
23. Me and My Dog
24. Pawnshop Blues
25. The Way I Feel

Disc E
BROWNIE McGHEE
1. Go on Blues
2. Auto Mechanic Blues
3. I'm Talking About It
4. Dollar Bill
5. Country Boy Boogie
SONNY TERRY
6. Harmonica Rag
7. Screamin' and Cryin' Blue
8. Beer Garden Blues
9. Worried Man Blues
BROWNIE McGHEE
10. Aunt Jane's Blues
11. Mabelle
12. So Long Baby
13. Poor Boy Blues
SONNY TERRY
14. Custard Pie Blues
15. Early Morning Blues
16. Crow Jane Blues
17. Hot-Headed Woman
BROWNIE McGHEE
18. Wrong Man Blues
19. Married Woman Blues
20. Robbie-Doby Boogie
21. My Fault
22. Brown Mule Blues
23. Hard Bed Blues
24. My Bulldog Blues
25. Gin Headed Woman

Kim Weston - Kim Kim Kim (Volt, 1970)

2011-09-15T23:02:00.002-05:00

Would you believe that one of my all-time favorite male-female duet performance happens to be Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston's "It Takes Two"? In fact, I think that song is one of the greatest singles from Tamla/Motown's classic mid-1960s period. While Gaye would go on to have considerable success as a Barry Gordy-affiliated artist until the early 1980s, Weston never seemed to receive the commercial success that a singer of her talent deserved. By 1967, she left the label on bad terms and spent time recording for MGM, People, and Stax/Volt for the remainder of the decade. Despite the quality of much of this material, none of her singles or albums made an impact on the charts. Weston, however, did enjoy a bit of a renaissance during the 1980s in the UK thanks to Northern Soul fans who have always held her in high esteem.

Kim Kim Kim was the singer's lone album for Stax/Volt and dates from 1970, although I've also seen 1971 listed as the year of its release. Very much a product of its time, the record was part of the label's more ostensibly Afrocentric "Mikim Series," whose logo was a black woman in attire similar to what Weston sports on the cover of this LP. Despite outward appearances, this is not really a Black Power album. With production from Isaac Hayes, Al Bell, and Clarence Pauling, much of the material unsurprisingly has a pronounced late 1960s-early 1970s Memphis feel to it, although you can still hear traces of the Motown Sound on certain numbers as well. Overall, this is a fantastic LP with a very nice variety of songs that has yet to receive its just due. Magnificently orchestrated tracks such as "You Just Don't Know" (dig the punchy bass guitar throughout), "The Love I've Been Looking For," "What Could Be Better," "When Something Is Wrong with My Baby," "Buy Myself a Man," and "Penny Blues" perfectly balance the heavier almost-funk sounds of "Love Vibrations," "Soul on Fire," and "Brothers & Sisters (Get Together)," with the last item being Kim Kim Kim's lone example of a racial and politically-themed piece. Further adding to the album's eclectic nature, "Got to Get You Off My Mind" harkens back to Weston's days in Detroit, while "The Choice Is Up to You (Walk with Me Jesus)" finds her capably handling gospel.

KIM WESTON PERFORMS AT WATTSTAX IN 1972 WHILE JESSE
JACKSON GIVES THE BLACK POWER SALUTE IN THE BACKGROUND

1. You Just Don't Know
2. The Love I've Been Looking For
3. What Could Be Better
4. When Something Is Wrong with My Baby
5. Love Vibrations
6. Buy Myself a Man
7. Got to Get You Off My Mind
8. Soul on Fire
9. Brothers and Sisters (Get Together)
10. Penny Blues
11. The Choice Is Up to You (Walk with Me Jesus)

Fred Neil - The Sky Is Falling: The Complete Live Recordings 1963-1971 (Rev-Ola, 2004)

2011-09-11T23:27:00.007-05:00

The Sky Is Falling is a really good concept: Take Fred Neil's spottiest release, the part-live/part-half-baked-duets-with-other-musicians Other Side of This Life, and enhance it by including four rare live tracks that were originally featured on obscure mid-1960s Greenwich Village folk anthologies. The original album bore all the hallmarks of a contractual obligation by a performer who had long ago become disenchanted with the music industry. Nonetheless, an artist of Neil's caliber seems to have been incapable of making a record that was truly bad. The primary fault of Other Side of This Life is its patched-together feel. While those aforementioned bonus tracks don't make The Sky Is Falling any more of a cohesive product, they do present the listener with four more superb recordings of vintage Freddie Neil.

FRED NEIL WITH BUZZY LINHART (ON VIBES) ET AL.

This CD's first six tracks were recorded at a small club in Woodstock circa 1970 with old friend Monte Dunn on second guitar and consist of material that Neil had initially featured on his earlier albums for Elektra and Capitol. Put simply, this is post-Greenwich Village folk music at its finest. The next five selections, however, primarily sound like little more than demos. While there are some high points, these tracks all possess a pronounced unfinished feel and hardly qualify as essential. Luminaries such as Stephen Stills, Bruce Langhorne, Dino Valenti, Harvey Brooks, and Les McCann provide instrumental support to various degrees on "Come Back Baby," "Prettiest Train," "Felicity," "Ba-De-Da" and "Ya Don't Miss Your Water," with one-time partner Vince Martin and Gram Parsons respectively contributing vocals on the last two songs. Had these performances been more fully-realized, they could have been fantastic. As for the bonus tracks, "Linin' Track," "The Sky Is Falling" (a cousin of "Blues on the Ceiling" perhaps), "That's the Bag I'm In" (all originally included on the 1963 release Hootenanny: Live at the Bitter End), and "Raindrops" (an early version of "Yonder Come the Blues" that first appeared on A Rootin' Tootin' Hootenanny from the following year) are all extraordinary and further demonstrate Neil's ability to captivate an audience.

IN THE STUDIO WITH BRUCE "MR. TAMBOURINE
MAN" LANGHORNE AND OTHER ASSOCIATES

1. The Other Side of This Life
2. Roll on Rosie
3. The Dolphins
4. That's the Bag I'm In
5. Sweet Cocaine
6. Everybody's Talkin'
7. Come Back Baby
8. Ba-De-Da
9. Prettiest Train
10. Ya Don't Miss Your Water
11. Felicity
12. Linin' Track
13. The Sky Is Falling
14. That's the Bag I'm In
15. Raindrops Falling

ON THE STREETS OF GREENWICH VILLAGE
LOOKING LIKE HE'S HOMESICK FOR FLORIDA

The Fallen Angels - The Great Society Sucks: Halloween 1968 (Cicadelic, 2011)

2011-09-07T23:55:00.006-05:00

While the US capital was not exactly a hotbed of countercultural and mind-expanding musical activity during the latter half of the 1960s, Washington DC, like many other American cities during the same period, was large enough to support a scene that featured at least a few interesting underground bands. First and foremost among such groups, the Fallen Angels occupy a rightful place in the psychedelic pantheon. Even though the first of their two Roulette albums is only so-so, their sophomore effort It's a Long Way Down qualifies as an absolute masterpiece and one of the greatest East Coast underground LPs of its time.

JACK BRYANT & WALLY COOK

A live album by the Fallen Angels from their 1968 prime is something that most fans could only dream about. Then, out of nowhere, this CD appeared earlier this year, albeit to mixed reviews. Despite not necessarily being a revelatory listening experience, The Great Society Sucks - Halloween 1968 (the title refers to Lyndon Johnson's social reform programs, not the group from San Francisco) still possesses many fine moments and is likely to be the only concert recording by this band ever available. For people who were fortunate enough to have seen the Fallen Angels in person, these performances might come off as disappointing - at least that's the vibe I've been getting while reading reviews of this disc. However, for those of us born too late or in the wrong part of the country, it serves as a decent-to-good document of what these guys were like onstage.

L TO R: JACK LAURITSEN (GUITAR), HOWARD DANCHICK
(KEYBOARDS), JACK BRYANT (BASS & VOCALS), WALLY
COOK (LEAD GUITAR), & JOHN "THUMPER" MOLLOY (DRUMS)

The Great Society Sucks consists of material from the group's repertory ("Everything Would Be Fine," an early single, as well as "No Way Out" and "Poor Old Man," respectively from their first and second LPs), obligatory covers ("Fat Angel," "Ballad of a Thin Man," "Season of the Witch," "Signed DC," and "All Along the Watchtower"), and a couple of free-form political freakout rants (the title track and "Pegasus the Pig for President"). Not surprisingly, the Angels for the most part do best with their own songs. Their renditions of Donovan and Dylan compositions are hardly embarrassing but might come off as somewhat uninspired only because such tunes are overly familiar to most connoisseurs of 1960s psych. On the other hand, the version of Love's "Signed DC" that appears here is truly transcendent and perhaps the finest moment in this set. Despite a mid-performance disturbance caused by an altercation in the audience, the band launches back into things as if nothing happened. Regarding the political pieces, you had to be there, I guess.

L TO R: WALLY COOK, JOHN MOLLOY, & PROBABLY
ORIGINAL RHYTHM GUITARIST CHARLIE "C.J." JONES

Other reviewers have criticized the sound quality of this recording. It's not great, but as someone who has listened to bootlegs of live shows from the 1960s for years, I find it to be acceptable, all things considered. Nevertheless, I do have a couple of issues with The Great Society Sucks. First, I would like to have heard a greater amount of material from the Roulette LPs, especially more songs from It's a Long Way Down. Perhaps the band felt that the audience (which seems strangely subdued throughout the proceedings) would respond more favorably to cover versions of songs by more popular artists. Second, it would have been nice if the booklet notes contained any information about this particular show itself. Although we can deduce that the concert date must have been October 31, 1968 or thereabouts, no mention is made about where it took place. All the same, a less-than-perfect live album by the Fallen Angels is better than no live album at all.

1. Everything Would Be Fine
2. The Great Society Sucks
3. Fat Angel (Fly Fallen Angel)
4. Pegasus the Pig for President
5. No Way Out
6. Ballad of a Thin Man
7. Season of the Witch
8. Signed DC
9. Poor Old Man
10. All Along the Watchtower

Hard Time Blues - St. Louis 1933-1940 (Mamlish, 1970s)

2011-09-05T16:54:00.006-05:00

If Don Kent's Mamlish label had been half as prolific as Nick Perls's Yazoo Records, the company would have received a lot more recognition for its equally fine reissues of prewar blues sides than it has. In total, the outfit released only 14 titles (versus the 79 albums featured in Yazoo's original 1000-series), but every one is well worth owning - if you can find them. Back in my college days (and before the internet made searching for rare vinyl a considerably easier task), a record collector friend and I would constantly lament over the near impossibility of finding Yazoo, Mamlish, and Origin Jazz Library albums in the bins of our favorite used record stores. However, as he astutely pointed out, it's not as if casual music buyers were likely to procure such items, decide they didn't like them, and then trade in the discs for cash or credit. By his reasoning, the people purchasing these esoteric LPs were probably prewar blues freaks like ourselves who were not likely to part with their carefully researched acquisitions unless they were in dire situations.

BLIND TEDDY DARBY

With the exception of 78-collecting cognoscenti, few people realize the importance of St. Louis in the history of prewar blues, especially during the Great Depression. However, as the liner notes for this record point out,

St. Louis survived, and indeed bid fair to dominate the blues industry in the years immediately following 1933. Memphis and Atlanta, both of which produced a large number of artists playing within a recognizable musical framework, were effectively dried up by the customary practices of the times. Two very important factors prevented St. Louis from meeting a similar fate: its close proximity to Chicago, where the major companies had studios, and the proven salability of St. Louis artists. Lonnie Johnson, Walter Davis, Roosevelt Sykes and Peetie Wheatstraw each recorded over 150 sides before the war, not including accompaniments.

While the three pianists mentioned above are represented by some of their finest-ever performances ("Just Thinking," "Drunken Gambler," and "Third Street's Going Down" respectively), Hard Time Blues - St. Louis 1933-1940 also shines the spotlight on the city's guitarists and less-celebrated singers. Moreover, what this collection makes abundantly clear is that the Gateway to the West was home to some of the best blues guitar-piano pairings in the entire country. Charley Jordan and Peetie Wheatstraw perfectly complement each other on "Tight Time Blues" and provide vocalist Mary Harris with superb accompaniment on "Happy New Year Blues." Elsewhere, the "Devil's Son-in-Law" tickles the ivories alongside singer Leroy Henderson and pickers Casey Bill Weldon (whose Hawaiian-style playing is instantly recognizable) and Blind Teddy Darby on the engaging "Good Scuffler Blues" while switching over to guitar and teaming with pianist Jimmy Gordon behind Alice Moore on "Blue Black and Evil Blues." The rollicking "Pitty Pat Blues" gives Darby the opportunity to take lead billing (albeit under the pseudonym "Blind Squire Turner" on the original 78) on a duet with little-known piano player Tom Webb. "Don't Love That Woman" serves as an excellent solo vehicle for quintessential St. Louis bluesman Henry Townsend to display his considerable singing and guitar-playing talents, whereas the excellent "Grinder Blues" features him alongside the Sparks brothers, vocalist Milton and pianist Aaron. The latter was one of at least two other blues piano players to adopt the sobriquet "Pinetop," as he's billed on the Big Maceo-ish "Work House Blues." The Depression period piece "Times Are So Tight" finds Aaron backing the melancholy vocals of the obscure Charlie McFadden, although the song is not quite as anthemic as this album's title track by the equally mysterious Lane Hardin. On the considerably rural-sounding "California Desert Blues," the same singer-guitarist sports an eerie falsetto that is nearly the equal of Skip James's in terms of emotional impact.

1. Hard Time Blues - Lane Hardin
2. Workhouse Blues - Aaron "Pinetop" Sparks
3. Happy New Year Blues - Mary Harris
4. Drunken Gambler - Roosevelt Sykes
5. Don't Love That Woman - Henry Townsend
6. Tight Time Blues - Charley Jordan
7. Just Thinking - Walter Davis
8. Pitty Pat Blues - Blind Teddy Darby
9. Third Street's Going Down - Peetie Wheatstraw
10. Blue Black and Evil Blues - Alice Moore
11. Times Are So Tight - Charlie McFadden
12. Good Scuffler Blues - Leroy Henderson
13. Grinder Blues - Milton Sparks
14. California Desert Blues - Lane Hardin

Turkey: A Musical Journey - Traditional Songs, Dances & Rituals (Nonesuch, 1975)

2011-09-01T23:59:00.002-05:00

Long before world music even existed as a category, Nonesuch Record's Explorer Series was putting out extraordinary albums of material by musicians hailing from some of the most exotic places on the planet - or at least exotic by American standards. And how's this for convoluted? The Explorer Series was essentially an imprint of an imprint since Nonesuch was originally a subsidiary of Elektra that label founder Jac Holzman had established to re-release classical recordings at cut-rate prices. Most, if not all, of the Explorer titles seem to have been produced in a similar fashion. That is, the albums consist of performances originally recorded in foreign countries by local labels or globetrotting musicologists and then licensed to Nonesuch for release in the United States. In many respects, the Explorer Series was the 1960s-1970s equivalent to Sublime Frequencies.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

The liner notes of Turkey: A Musical Journey: Traditional Songs, Dances & Rituals indicate that it is "a production of EZGI Records, Istanbul." My educated guess is that this LP contains music that had been recorded over the course of many years, if not decades, and had previously been released in some capacity by that company or perhaps by other Turkish labels. Regardless of the performances' origins, the 15 tracks assembled here provide a fascinating cross section of - what else? - traditional songs, dances, and rituals from Anatolia. The recordings by the Karayilan Duo, Mustafa Kandirali & ensemble, Orhan Gencebay, the Konya Folklore Group, Binali Selman, Sezai Ulukaya, and the anonymous "Singer" present various aspects of folk music intended for dancing. To my ears, "Silifke'nin Yogurdu/Meydan Oyunu" and "Erzurum Bas Bari/Ikinci Bar" are reminiscent of material by the Master Musicians of Joujouka, while many of the other cuts by the aforementioned artists would not sound out of place on a belly dance LP. "Dost," a wandering minstrel (asik) tune by Ali Izzet featuring saz (or, more accurately, baglama), puts me in the mind of Kaleidoscope at their most Middle Eastern or the Alex Oriental Experience. The best way that I can come up with to describe "Siksara Oyun Havasi" would be "Anatolia meets Appalachia." Listen to the furiously bowed kemence (a small three- or four-stringed violin) and the guy calling out the dance moves, and you'll hear what I mean. The hypnotic "Mevlevi Music" is comprised of three religious performances unique to the Turkish Sufi sect better known as the whirling dervishes and sound as ancient as the order's 13th-century inception. The trio of titles by the Istanbul Radio Concert Ensemble present the listener with instrumentals done in a classical suite style in addition to a love song written by the legendary Tamburi Cemil Bey. The closing track provides an example of the martial (mehter) music unique to the Janissaries, who were among the most elite soldiers of the Ottoman Empire. That prominent booming giant kettle drum (kos or timbal) alone must have instilled great fear in the armies of their European opponents, but now you can listen to the same thing in the comfort and safety of your home.

1. Silifke'nin Yogurdu/Medan Oyunu - Karayilan Duo
2. Dost - Asik Ali Izzet
3. Saba Zeybek/Tavas Zeybegi - Mustafa Kandirali & ensemble
4. Misket - Orhan Gencebay
5. Konyalim - Konya Folklore Group
6. Erzurum Bas Bari/Ikinci Bar - Benali Selman
7. Siksara Oyun Havasi - Caller, with Ferhat Ozyakupoglu
8. Kavalla Oyun Havasi - Sezai Ulukaya
9. Mevlevi Music
10. Arabesque Ciftetelli - Mustafa Kandirali & ensemble
11. Aslan Mustafa Oyun Havasi - Singer
12. Nihavent Pesrev - Istanbul Radio Concert Ensemble
13. Sevdim Seni Ey Isvebaz - Istanbul Radio Concert Ensemble
14. Nihavent Longa - Istanbul Radio Concert Ensemble
15. Mehter Music

Hey Baby, You Know There Got to Be Some Changes Made

2011-09-01T23:58:00.004-05:00

I know that I've taken off most of this summer and that my posting frequency ain't what it used to be. Much of that has to do with work taking up a lot more of my time. When I first started this blog in January 2009, there wasn't much happening with my sales job on account of the lousy economy. I had an abundance of spare time on my hands, and I figured that blogging would be a worthwhile free activity in which I could engage myself. Even though I'm not convinced that the US has completely emerged from the Great Recession, my business has picked up substantially during the last two years and eight months. This has allowed me to acquire a lot more albums for my record and CD collection, but not as much opportunity to write about them.

As some of you also know, my wife and I went on a fantastic vacation in Malta during the end of July and early August, and it took me awhile to get back into the swing of things. Additionally, I've been working on upgrading my desktop's sound system, which has been one big pain in the ass. I'm not a very technically-minded person, so I inadvertently knocked the computer out of commission for a couple of weeks, leading to even more delays. However, I'm pleased to announce that everything is up and running again, and I hope to resume blogging with more regularity.

That said, I'm going to have to start doing things a little differently in order to keep Record Fiend going. One of my goals for this blog was to have it serve as a platform for my writings and as a way to get noticed by magazine and book publishers. I'm very pleased that my little place on the interwebs has succeeded in this fashion. It has directly or indirectly been responsible for some of my work appearing in printed media, with more probably on the way. Because I now have other writing projects that are keeping me busy - not to mention the fact that I'm a painfully slow writer - I'm going to have to cut down on the size of my posts and keep them at two paragraphs or fewer. Some of my favorite music bloggers take the "less is more" approach and write everything that needs to be written in just a few sentences. I wish that sort of thing came to me more easily, but I'll find a way to make it happen. Hopefully, the end result will be shorter entries but more frequent posting.

The other thing that I'm going to be doing differently from now on is archiving my albums in FLAC format only. With technology advancing as rapidly as it does nowadays, the storage capacity of electronic devices is increasing at an exponential rate. Large files are no longer as much of an issue for media devices and file-sharing services, so I'm not doing any more MP3s. I regret if this bothers anyone, but it requires little effort to convert files from FLAC to MP3 if you have a strong preference for compressed audio. Moreover, FLAC files sound way better than MP3s (as long as you have the proper audio setup) and can easily be converted to WAV format if you're really old-school and want to burn an album's worth of material onto a CD-R. The primary upgrade that I did to my computer was installing a 24-bit sound card, so all vinyl rips going forward will feature deeper and better sound. However, for those of you who care about such things, I'll be doing all recordings at 44.1 kHz. Some people brag about their 24-bit, 96 kHz vinyl rips, but everything I've read indicates that particular sampling rate is excessive and largely pointless.

Finally, I'm going to start using RapidShare exclusively for archiving my files because they offer free unlimited storage with no restrictions on file size. As usual, everything you need to know will appear in the comments section of each post. What you do with that information is entirely your decision and responsibility. (Update - September 6, 2011: I decided to start using MegaUpload as well, but please don't ask me to use any other file-hosting services.)

Addendum: A friend of mine who is much more technically astute pointed out that those who want to burn 24-bit FLAC files onto a CD-R so they will play like a conventional CD will first need to convert them to 16-bit WAV format. Most decent audio software will allow you to do this, although I don't know if this is an option with free versions of such software. For example, Pyro Audio Creator LE (which is what I use to convert WAVs to FLACs or MP3s) makes it possible to change the bit depths of files with the Encoder function. Similar varieties of software should allow you to do the same thing. For those who want to play 24-bit FLAC files on their computer, any media player will do. However, you will need to have a 24-bit sound card as well as good speakers to hear the difference in audio quality. Computers with 16-bit sound cards will play 24-bit files at 16 bits without any difficulties. Audiophiles who would rather not use their computers as a sound system and who have the technical know-how can convert 24-bit FLAC files to 24-bit WAVs and then burn them onto an audio DVD as long as their DVD player will play audio DVDs . For more details on working with 24-bit audio files, go this site, which features some good basic information. And finally, for those who want to turn 24-bit FLACs into MP3s, I'm pretty sure that you can convert them to this compressed audio format without first changing them to 16-bit FLACs or WAVs. If you don't already have software that will make the FLAC-to-MP3 conversion, I suggest downloading Free MP3/WMA/OGG Converter if money (or lack thereof) is an issue for you.

Quicksilver Messenger Service - Fillmore Auditorium - November 6, 1966

2011-08-21T23:37:00.007-05:00

And so begins the final installment of my Quicksilver Messenger Service concert recordings from 1966-1968, when the band was indisputably at the height of their powers. While you won't see a great deal of variation from the material that's been posted previously, different versions of the same songs often are at the very least worth listening to for the sake of comparison. While Quicksilver might not have had the deepest of repertories, their ability to reinterpret blues and early rock 'n' roll tunes in psychedelic fashion - not to mention their deftness at performing self-composed mind-expanding epics - remains quite impressive more than 40 years later.

QUICKSILVER CIRCA 1967 (L TO R): GARY DUNCAN, JIM
MURRAY, JOHN CIPOLLINA, DAVID FREIBERG, & GREG ELMORE

This particular performance marked the conclusion of a three-day series of concerts staged at the original Fillmore Auditorium (not to be confused with the Fillmore West, established in 1968) on November 4, 5, and 6, 1966. Impresario Bill Graham typically scheduled weekend gigs so there would be early and late shows on Friday and Saturday and one afternoon show on Sunday, the day on which this engagement took place. As discussed in the post for the recordings from November 5, QMS served as one of the opening acts for Muddy Waters during these concerts, thus accounting for renditions of "Got My Mojo Working" and "Hootchie Cootchie Man" (sic) that were nods to the influence of the legendary blues singer.

SAME GUYS, DIFFERENT PHOTO

GARY DUNCAN & JOHN CIPOLLINA JAM AT THE HUMAN BE-IN,
SAN FRANCISCO, GOLDEN GATE PARK, JANUARY 14, 1967

The first of those aforementioned tunes is a little sloppy but still way better than what more narrowly-focused white blues interpreters are usually able to pull off. As far as I'm concerned, Quicksilver's interpretation of "Hootchie Cootchie Man" is the most original ever done, and this version compares favorably with its counterpart from the previous day. The same assessment applies to blues standard "You Don't Love Me" and oldie-but-goodie "Suzy Q." Their signature slowed-down take on "Codine" and the psychedelicized folk rock of "Pride of Man" foreshadow the material that would appear on record during the next couple of years, while then-incarcerated lead singer Dino Valenti's "Stand by Me" typifies the band's well meaning but not always successful forays into doing sensitive material. The band saves their best for last, however, with a magnificent embryonic version of "Mona" that clocks in at nearly nine minutes and includes some breathtaking interplay between John Cipollina and Gary Duncan's shimmering guitars. Although this performance might not get as far out as the more fully realized "Mona-Maiden of the Cancer Moon-Calvary" suite on Happy Trails, few other bands were exploring this kind of musical territory in 1966 as successfully as Quicksilver Messenger Service.

JOHN CIPOLLINA & JIM MURRAY AT THE
MONTEREY POP FESTIVAL, JUNE 17, 1967

1. Got My Mojo Working
2. You Don't Love Me
3. Hootchie Cootchie Man
4. Suzy Q
5. Codine
6. Stand By Me
7. Pride of Man
8. Mona

NOT A POSTER FOR THIS SHOW BUT STILL COOL ANYWAY

Quicksilver Messenger Service - Winterland - December 31, 1967

2011-08-21T23:35:00.004-05:00

If I had been a countercultural type living in the Bay Area and looking for something to do on New Year's Eve 1967, you probably could have found me at this concert. Recorded not long before the release of their debut album, the proceedings find Quicksilver Messenger Service fully adapted to being a four-piece unit and proving that Jim Murray's contributions to the band were sometimes interesting but definitely not essential. Overall, this is a fantastic show even if the sound quality - featuring occasional dropouts and poorly miked drums - leaves a bit to be desired.

DAVID FREIBERG, JOHN CIPOLLINA, & GARY DUNCAN (CLOCKWISE FROM
BOTTOM RIGHT) UNDER WRAPS WITH GREG ELMORE IN THE BACKGROUND

Things start out with an "Instrumental" that fades in and is admittedly just bluesy noodling, but it's noodling of the highest order nonetheless. The energy quotient increases considerably with a fiery take on the first album's centerpiece, "Pride of Man," while the nine-and-a-half-minute performance of "Who Do You Love" that follows (as well as "Mona-Maiden of the Cancer Moon" later in the set) provides a sneak preview of the direction the group would pursue more fully on Happy Trails. Even though Jim Murray's harmonica is noticeably absent on "If You Live," Gary Duncan is more than up to the task to handle the song's vocals. I always thought that "It's Been Too Long" was one of Quicksilver's more underrated songs, and here it's in particularly fine form. The band's cover versions of other blues songs are generally more to my liking, but I must admit that the fierce guitar work on "Smokestack Lightning" and "Back Door Man" makes them both worth a listen. "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You" sounds great like it usually does and, in addition to a few notable tracks by the Charlatans, serves as one of the best examples of Haight-Ashbury merging with the Wild West. As long as you're OK with drum solos, "Gold and Silver" will appeal to those who enjoy a bit of jazz-influenced psych. Among the many live recordings of "Dino's Song" that I've heard over the years, I would have to say that this is the best of them all - just listen to John Cipollina going crazy on his guitar throughout the performance. If only it had been recorded a little better.

QMS FLANKING HARVEY BROOKS (CENTER) IN THE RECORDING STUDIO

1. Instrumental
2. Pride of Man
3. Who Do You Love
4. If You Live
5. It's Been Too Long
6. Smokestack Lightning
7. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
8. Gold and Silver
9. Dino's Song
10. Back Door Man
11. Mona-Maiden of the Cancer Moon

Quicksilver Messenger Service - Fillmore West - November 9, 1968

2011-08-21T23:34:00.002-05:00

QMS (L TO R): DAVID FREIBERG, GARY
DUNCAN, GREG ELMORE, & JOHN CIPOLLINA

OK, I'll admit that there is not a great deal to write about here, but I'll give you my two cents' worth on this pair of tracks, which come from the time when Quicksilver was extensively recording their live shows for material that would appear on Happy Trails. Taped on November 9 (or possibly November 10), 1968 at home turf venue Fillmore West, neither "Smokestack Lightning" nor "Suzy Q" as heard at this concert are particularly noteworthy performances. The former is not necessarily played badly, but it just doesn't rank as highly as other blues covers for which the band was better suited. This version of "Suzy Q" may have been one of the last times that Quicksilver played Dale Hawkins' signature tune. Considering its sluggish execution, it certainly sounds like they were sick and tired of doing it.

1. Smokestack Lightning
2. Suzy Q

Destination: Malta

2011-07-24T23:54:00.004-05:00

I realize that my posts have been pretty sporadic for the last few months, but it hasn't been for lack of trying. There has been a lot going on in my personal and professional life during this time that has kept me away from blogging. My posting activity will be even more infrequent - well, non-existent, actually - over the next three weeks because my wife and I will be on vacation (or holiday, if you prefer) in Malta for the rest of this month and into early August. I hope to resume reviewing albums for your listening pleasure shortly after my return stateside.

So as long as it's the topic of discussion, I just wanted to investigate the slight possibility of any blog readers living on the island or visiting during my stay. If so and you'd be interested in meeting up, please drop me a line so we can discuss a potential get-together. Bonus points to anyone who can show us the real off-the-beaten-path places in Malta and Gozo.

Bunk Johnson/Lu Watters - Bunk & Lu (Good Time Jazz, 1953 & 1957; 1990)

2011-07-19T23:59:00.002-05:00

These recordings were already more than ten years old when they were issued as ten-inch LPs by the Good Time Jazz label during the 1950s. The 16 sides presented here date from 1941 and 1944, during the early phase of the Dixieland jazz revival, whose advent roughly corresponds with the release of Frederic Ramsey's landmark book Jazzmen in 1939. The importance of this movement cannot be overstated since it helped lay the groundwork for the blues revival that would begin in earnest not long afterward. This CD serves as a particularly representative document of Dixieland's resurgence because it features performances by one of the most important early white revivalists as well as those by a black musician who had been an originator of the style at the dawn of the 20th century.

LU WATTERS

Lucius "Lu" Watters (1911-1989) hailed from a small town near Sacramento, California and started playing the bugle while attending military school as a child. Not long afterward, this instrument was ditched in favor of the trumpet. By the time he was a teenager, Watters had become an accomplished blower and was splitting his time between high school and traveling the country while often working as boat band musician. After completing his secondary education, he attended the University of San Francisco on a music scholarship before ultimately dropping out to become a full-time professional horn player. Watters toured throughout much of the United States as a member of various traveling pop bands during the 1930s. His visits to New Orleans proved to be extremely influential as he often sat in with groups of veteran Dixieland jazz musicians whose modus operandi was rapidly going out of style. At the end of the decade, he decided to focus exclusively on this type of music and organized what would eventually become the Yerba Buena Jazz Band, which was one of the first - if not the first - revivalist group of its kind. Eight of his earliest sides - "At a Georgia Camp Meeting," "Irish Black Bottom," "Original Jelly Roll Blues," "Smoky Mokes," "Maple Leaf Rag," "Memphis Blues," "Black & White Rag," and "Muskrat Ramble" (on which Country Joe & the Fish's "I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag" is based) - offer outstanding interpretations of material made famous by legendary figures such as Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Scott Joplin, W.C. Handy, and Kid Ory, but are not merely slavish imitations. As the equally celebrated Nesuhi Ertegun explains in the booklet notes, "When one compares these Watters records with those of King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton or the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, it is apparent the Watters group neither duplicated any single aspect of traditional jazz, nor used any one famous band of the past as a model."

Although his name is not as well-known as Oliver's or Morton's, William "Bunk" Johnson (ca. 1879-1949) was one of the premier early jazz musicians of New Orleans. The ten-year long peak of his early career ended in 1915 when he had to flee the Crescent City as a result of missing a Mardi Gras parade gig and being threatened with physical violence in retaliation. After living in the relative safety of New Iberia, Louisiana for a number of years, he lost the ability to play trumpet when he got his teeth knocked out during a dance at which his band was playing in 1931. Early jazz scholars including Bill Russell and the aforementioned Frederic Ramsey rediscovered him later in the decade and apparently paid for a set of dentures and a new horn to help him get his career going again. In the early 1940s, San Francisco had become a major center for the Dixieland revival, and it was there that, with the support of many musicians from Watters' Yerba Buena Jazz Band (though not Lu himself), Johnson began a series of extremely well-received shows in 1943. Studio sessions soon followed in 1944, with the results of the earliest recordings appearing here. For those partial to jazz of this variety, renditions of "Careless Love," "The Girls Go Crazy," and "Ory's Creole Trombone" will prove to be sublime experiences. On "2:19 Blues" and "Ace in the Hole," drummer Clancy Hayes provides vocals, while Sister Lottie Peavey does the honors on the superb gospel numbers "When I Move to the Sky" and "Nobody's Fault but Mine." Apparently the good Sister could not be convinced that "Down by the Riverside" was sufficiently sanctified for her to sing on it, so Bunk had to step in and do the job himself. Even though Johnson would go on to achieve even greater fame in New York City before his death at the end of the 1940s, he felt that the musicians in San Francisco were the best group that he performed with during his post-rediscovery years.

BUNK JOHNSON

1. At a Georgia Camp Meeting - Lu Watters
2. Irish Black Bottom - Lu Watters
3. Original Jelly Roll Blues - Lu Watters
4. Smoky Mokes - Lu Watters
5. Maple Leaf Rag - Lu Watters
6. Memphis Blues - Lu Watters
7. Black & White Rag - Lu Watters
8. Muskrat Ramble - Lu Watters
9. Careless Love - Bunk Johnson
10. 2:19 Blues - Bunk Johnson
11. The Girls Go Crazy - Bunk Johnson
12. When I Move to the Sky - Bunk Johnson
13. Ace in the Hole - Bunk Johnson
14. Ory's Creole Trombone - Bunk Johnson
15. Nobody's Fault but Mine - Bunk Johnson
16. Down by the Riverside - Bunk Johnson

BUNK JOHNSON IN 1910

Mister Charlie's Blues 1926-1938 (Yazoo, 1970)

2011-07-14T23:59:00.002-05:00

Mister Charlie's Blues is an extraordinary LP for two reasons. First, it marks the only instance in which a Yazoo 1000-series album was devoted exclusively to white musicians - in this case, early country (or, if you prefer, hillbilly) artists. Second, this item arguably sports the most provocative cover artwork of any record in the company's catalogue, which is no small feat considering the often eyebrow-raising imagery the label used to illustrate other releases. As for the two characters featured on this particular album jacket, I'm almost sure that the guitarist in blackface is original Yazoo owner Nick Perls. He was known for fancying young black men, so I'm guessing that the person in whiteface was one of his boyfriends.

SAM McGEE (L) WITH UNCLE DAVE MACON

In case you were wondering, "Mister Charlie" is an obsolete African-American slang term for Caucasian male that is in the same vein as "whitey," "honky," "cracker," and "buckra." These 14 tracks are not simply hillbilly recordings. More specifically, they are examples of Southern white musicians performing material that was either blues in a technical sense or had been strongly influenced by their black counterparts. As the Yazoo brain trust discusses in the liner notes,

While the bluesman's imitations of white and pop music always rank as his most banal work, the hillbilly's encroachments upon a genre that has always been held as the province of blacks make for fascinating music. They also make a mockery of the old notion that no white can play country blues, and even expose the deficiencies of many contemporary whites who work the blues idiom. The usual failing of the hillbilly blues guitarist is the same that nearly always inheres in white guitar-playing of the 1920's: a preference for limiting picking patterns that the best musicians of either race always surmounted. In general, the sensitivity of the white blues musician is remarkable when one considers the race prejudices of his class.

Even though I'm not a musician, I think what they are getting at is that the typically white obsession with rigidity and structure has often stood in the way of artistic innovation, whereas the more improvisatory approach of black instrumentalists from the 1800s and early 1900s generally led to the development of new and uniquely American styles of musical expression. The sides presented here for the most part focus on the hillbilly anomalies (i.e. those among "the best musicians of either race" mentioned above), and what wonderful exceptions to the rule they are. Indeed, certain labels in the 1920s and 1930s felt some of these performances sounded so authentically black that they were marketed as race records.

ROY HARVEY (L) & LEONARD COPELAND

There does not seem to be much, if any, information available about guitarist Wesley Long, but "They Are Wild Over Me" convincingly demonstrates his instrumental prowess. The liner notes astutely point out that his approach is reminiscent of the ragtime material recorded by Frank Stokes, Mississippi John Hurt, and Hambone Willie Newbern as well as the playing style of Bahamian guitarist Joseph Spence. Who says white people don't have rhythm? One listen to Herschel Brown's breathtaking performance on spoons (which accompanies the equally impressive guitar picking of L.K. Sentell) will make you rethink any preconceived notions you might have about such things. Another biographical non-entity, Brown possibly came from Georgia, where he was the leader of a washboard band. As a recording artist for the OKeh label, his novelty sides produced significant sales figures during the late 1920s. Although it sounds like a good name for a police-themed porn movie, Dick Justice was actually a guitarist from Logan County, West Virginia and a friend of the better-known Frank Hutchison. Many aficionados of old-time American music consider them to be among the best of prewar white blues musicians, a view strongly supported by Justice's superb "Black Dog Blues" and "Cocaine." On the former, he turns in a performance that is similar to "Don't Let That Deal Go Down," while the latter compares rather favorably to Virginia bluesman Luke Jordan's rendition recorded two years earlier in 1927. Tennessee native and early Grand Ole Opry star Sam McGee was proficient on several stringed instruments, although he was first and foremost a guitarist of the highest caliber, which the instrumentals "Buck Dancer's Choice" and "Franklin Blues" make abundantly clear. That's early country music legend Uncle Dave Macon providing the vocal interjections throughout both tours de force. "Cross Tie Blues" and "Pouring Down Blues" qualify as two more phenomenal white blues instrumentals. In this case, the performers are Buster & Jack, which was the name assigned to 78s by white string band Jack Cawley and his Oklahoma Ridge Runners that were sold as race records. Few black musicians could come close to duplicating Blind Lemon Jefferson's nearly inimitable way of guitar playing, so it comes as quite a surprise that the most convincing cover version of his "Match Box Blues" was recorded by a white guy from Kentucky. Larry Hensley ordinarily played guitar with the string band Walker's Corbin Ramblers, but this interpretation of the Texas bluesman's signature piece finds him in a solo setting. According to the liner notes, "Hensley's elaborations upon the original set him apart from Jefferson's usual imitators, who were more apt to copy only the vocal parts of Jefferson's blues. Unlike other white bluesmen, Hensley also imitates a black vocal style, producing a fair approximation of Jefferson's singing." The South Georgia Highballers supply another pair of appealing instrumentals, "Blue Grass Twist" and "Bibb County Grind." To my ears, they sound like guitar duets peppered with banter between the two performers who are likely brothers Albert and Vander Everidge. The most famous white blues-playing siblings of the prewar era, however, were probably Austin and Lee Allen, who hailed from the eastern part of Tennessee near Chattanooga. Executives at their original label, Columbia Records, mistakenly thought they were black and issued their debut release from 1927 ("Laughin' and Cryin' Blues" b/w "Chattanooga Blues") as part of their race series, much to the Allen Brothers' chagrin. After threatening the company with a lawsuit for damaging their reputations, they switched over to Victor, where they waxed the bulk of their discography, including the novelty talking blues "Maybe Next Week Sometime." If you can't get enough instrumentals of this variety, the irresistible "Just Pickin'" by Roy Harvey (on loan from the Charlie Poole-helmed North Carolina Ramblers) and West Virginia native Leonard Copeland will definitely hit the spot. While no one would ever mistake the sweet-sounding vocals of the Anglin Brothers (consisting of Red and twins Jim and Jack) as those of black blues singers, the guitar playing heard on the Tennessee-born trio's "Southern Whoopee Song" is another matter entirely.

AUSTIN (L) & LEE ALLEN

1. They Are Wild Over Me - Wesley Long
2. Spanish Rag - Herschel Brown
3. Black Dog Blues - Dick Justice
4. Buck Dancer's Choice - Sam McGee
5. Cross Tie Blues - Buster & Jack
6. Match Box Blues - Larry Hensley
7. Blue Grass Twist - South Georgia Highballers
8. Maybe Next Week Sometime - Allen Brothers
9. Just Pickin' - Roy Harvey & Leonard Copeland
10. Cocaine - Dick Justice
11. Franklin Blues - Sam McGee
12. Pouring Down Blues - Buster & Jack
13. Southern Whoopee Song - Anglin Brothers
14. Bibb County Grind - South Georgia Highballers

A THING OF BEAUTY: BLACK-LABEL YAZOO LP

Fiend's 45s Vol. 2

2011-07-10T23:59:00.018-05:00

I would put together more of these 45 comps if they weren't such time-consuming projects. The positive feedback that I received for this series' first installation was somewhat surprising because, as explained in the post for Vol. 1, my stash of singles is considerably smaller than my LP collection. While I possess a few 45s that I particularly prize, none of them are truly mind-blowingly rare, in contrast to some of the seven-inch mega-obscurities owned by fellow vinyl junkie friends who work the local bar disc jockey circuit. Anyway, here are 25 choice cuts that collectively make up Fiend's 45s Vol. 2. There is no unifying theme; these are simply songs that I like. You'll find hits from the 1960s and 1970s alongside material that has probably never received so much as a moment of radio airplay. Even in instances where titles will be familiar to most readers, these songs are for the most part presented in their mono single mixes, which often differ from their stereo album counterparts. Hopefully, this collection will offer a little something for everybody.

CLICK IMAGES OF 45 LABELS TO ENLARGE

1. H.P. Lovecraft - The White Ship (single edit) (Phillips, 1967)

Arguably the most legitimately psychedelic group to come out of Chicago during the 1960s, H.P. Lovecraft released two LPs containing performances that ranged from pretty good to great. The diversity of their personnel helped provide the band with a solid foundation of influences ranging from folk to classical to straightforward rock. This background resulted in H.P. Lovecraft being a much more interesting and sophisticated group than other acts associated with Dunwich Productions, such as the one-dimensional Shadows of Knight and the American Breed. "The White Ship," with its distinctive baroque keyboards, was the closest thing that the outfit with a horror writer-derived name had to a hit and is presented here in its truncated plug-side version.

2. Charlie Daniels - Uneasy Rider* (Kama Sutra, 1973)

It's hard to believe that this acoustic, novelty country number done "talking blues"-style is by the same guy who did "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," mostly on account of its pro-counterculture sentiments. Charlie Daniels takes pride in the reactionary redneck image that currently defines him, and most of his post-1975 work holds no interest for me whatsoever. Nevertheless, his lesser-known recordings from earlier in the decade have a number of pleasant surprises for the uninitiated. "Uneasy Rider" was a deserving #9 pop hit in 1973 and probably the best thing that the cowboy hat-wearing fiddler ever did.

3. The Spike-Drivers - Baby Let Me Tell You How I Lost My Mind (Reprise, 1966)

In a more just world, this mind-expanding folk rock nugget would have been one of 1966's biggest hit records. Obviously, that didn't happen, making the Spike-Drivers one of the most talented but least commercially successful bands of their era, at least in terms of record sales. This is a Canadian pressing of "Baby Let Me Tell You How I Lost My Mind" and is considerably more poppy than the unreleased demo version heard on the first-rate Folkrocking Psychedelia from the Motor City collection. Although lead guitarist Sid Brown disparages this side in his booklet notes for that CD (referring to the group's Reprise 45s as "shit shingles, not hit singles"), I'll have to respectfully disagree with his assessment.

4. Bobbie Gentry - Okolona River Bottom Band (Capitol, 1967)

I've seen picture sleeve versions of this 45 at used record stores all around the country, suggesting that Capitol Records must have thought "Okolona River Bottom Band" was going to be as big of a hit as one of Bobbie Gentry's previous releases, "Ode to Billie Joe," which had peaked at the #1 and #17 positions respectively on the US pop and country charts earlier in 1967. This single, from the Delta Sweete LP, didn't even come close (#54 pop) to replicating that success, but it is still a fine example of the singer's unique country-soul-rock style and features some exquisitely atmospheric, perhaps even psychedelic, production that gives things a uniquely Southern feel.

5. B.B. King - Mashing the Popeye (Kent, 1962)

Even though he's a blues guitarist, some people forget that B.B. King has also recorded a number of excellent instrumentals over the years, especially during his 1950s-early 1960s heyday. Often tucked away as the B-sides to his more famous vocal hits, these performances have never received the attention they deserve in various anthologies of the man's recordings, with the excellent but far-from-complete Spotlight on Lucille being the only item that focuses exclusively on this aspect of his legacy. The sound of "Mashing the Popeye" is big and bold, just as you'd expect from a piece with such an audacious title.

6. Aum - Bye Bye Baby (Fillmore, 1969)

Ever the businessman, Bill Graham was not content just owning some of the country's hippest music venues during the 1960s, he also wanted to have a record company on which many of the performing acts could also release singles and albums. Although some psychedelic connoisseurs turn their noses up at many of the third- and fourth-wave Bay Area groups that he signed to his Fillmore (a CBS subsidiary) and San Francisco (distributed by Atlantic) labels, there was still some good music made in the process. Aum may not have been the Haight's most innovative band, but the driving, somewhat Jefferson Airplane-ish "Bye Bye Baby" ranks as the best track from their solid Resurrection LP and was a logical choice for a single release.

7. The Chambers Brothers - Uptown (Columbia, 1967)

Issued in November 1967, "Uptown" bears distinction for being the first single released from the Chambers Brothers' landmark The Time Has Come LP, about nine months before the considerably more successful "Time Has Come Today" hit the market. Columbia Records must have sensed they had a potential new hit-making act on their hands since this copy is a double-sided "Special Rush Service" white label promo. The company's instincts failed them in this particular instance, as "Uptown" peaked at a disappointing #126 on the US pop charts. The label often took a conservative approach with their artists during the 1960s, thus explaining the preference they gave to this song at the expense of "Time." Not that there is anything wrong with the soul-on-the-cusp-of-funk that characterizes "Uptown," but it probably had too much of an old school R&B flavor for the turned-on young record buyers of late 1967.

8. Jorgen Ingmann - Apache (Atco, 1961)

Danish guitarist Jorgen Ingmann was not the first person to have success with this classic instrumental (that distinction belongs to British group the Shadows, whose version was waxed in 1960), but, oddly enough, he was the first person to have a hit (#2 pop) with it in the US. As a young record collector, I had always assumed the Ventures had been the first musicians to record it. Ingmann's rendition is a little more polished and restrained, but it still showcases his beautiful guitar tone as well as some advanced-for-their-time sound effects. "Apache" is exhibit A for the great things that can happen when a guitarist isn't afraid to adopt a "less is more" approach to performing.

9. The Nightcrawlers - You're Running Wild (Kapp, 1967)

"You're Running Wild" is the B-side to "The Little Black Egg," a single for Dayton Beach, Florida band the Nightcrawlers that would prove to be rather influential in spite of its seemingly unimpressive #85 peak position on the US pop charts in 1967. Personally, I think the non-hit is the superior of the two songs since it better represents the tough garage band sound that truly defined the group. The snarling vocals and slightly off-kilter guitar work make "You're Running Wild" one of the most effective statements of girl-fueled, white teenage angst ever recorded.

10. Poco - You Better Think Twice (Epic, 1970)

Yeah, I'll admit that Poco can be held partially responsible for two awful things: in particular, the Eagles, and, in general, 1970s soft rock. That said, things did start out on a very promising note for this band, with their first two LPs, Pickin' Up the Pieces and Poco, being logical progressions of Richie Furay and Jim Messina's work with Buffalo Springfield in addition to earning a reputation as two of the most outstanding country rock albums in the history of the genre. "You Better Think Twice" (which made it to #72 on the US pop charts) comes from the latter of those two records and contains the outstanding instrumental work and vocal harmonies that would characterize Poco's earliest and best efforts, which were unfortunately too country for rock audiences and too rock for country audiences of the time.

11. Solomon Burke - Maggie's Farm (Atlantic, 1965)

How many of you knew that this was the first cover of "Maggie's Farm" ever recorded? Or that Solomon Burke was one of the first black singers to wax a Bob Dylan song? I sure didn't, at least not until I did a little research in preparation for this post. Whether this particular Dylan piece was pushed on Solomon Burke or he came up with the idea to record it on his own doesn't really matter since it's such a convincing interpretation. According to various sources, this version not only came out prior to the composer's own single release, it outsold it as well.

12. Friend and Lover - Reach out of the Darkness (Verve Forecast, 1968)

Friend and Lover's "Reach out of the Darkness" is one of those songs that detractors of 1960s music love to hate. Granted, it does feature a number of lyrical and musical cliches unique to the decade in which it was recoded. Nevertheless, with undeniable vocal hooks, an irresistible bass line, and production from Joe South, this #10 pop hit by the erstwhile folk duo of Jim and Cathy Post remains appealing to those who feel no shame in still believing that "it's so groovy now that people are finally getting together."

13. Spirit - Mechanical World (Ode, 1968)

What were the people at Ode Records thinking when they issued the incredibly complex "Mechanical World" as the single from Spirit's debut album? To wit, the song is divided into five or six different sections and clocks in at nearly five minutes, not exactly the sort of thing you would try to market to an audience that is notorious for generally having a short attention span. But it was the 1960s, after all, a time when record labels were still willing to take bigger chances. Randy California's awe-inspiring guitar solos throughout this performance continue to amaze this listener, even nearly 17 years after first hearing them.

14. The Staple Singers - New Orleans (Curtom, 1976)

After the collapse of Stax Records, the Staple Singers found a new home on Curtis Mayfield's Curtom label. It was with this company that they had their last significant hit, the title song for the Let's Do It Again soundtrack. The seriously funky and decidedly non-gospel followup single "New Orleans" also comes from that album, although it failed to produce similar results despite its many virtues. Does anyone know if both Mayfield and Pops Staples are playing guitar on this?

15. Sir Douglas Quintet - The Rains Came (Tribe, 1965)

Although "She's About a Mover" was the Sir Douglas Quintet's big hit from 1965, the less commercially successful "The Rains Came" demonstrates that it wasn't the only worthwhile thing they recorded that year. This cover version of a song originally done by the obscure Big Sambo and the House Wreckers in 1962 contains that same distinctively reedy organ, a catchy chorus, and other hallmarks that would become part of this Doug Sahm-helmed band's winning formula.

16. Mashmakhan - Days When We Are Free* (Epic, 1970)

Remembered, if at all, primarily for their 1970 hit "As the Years Go By," this progressive jazz-influenced Canadian quartet from Montreal apparently got their name from a variety of hash that was popular with the underground scene in their hometown. I wouldn't necessarily go as far as describing "Days When We Are Free" as psychedelic, but "mind-expanding fusion" seems to fit the bill just fine. Although this song appeared as the B-side to Mashmakhan's aforementioned hit, it's the superior performance in my opinion largely because of the first-rate guitar-keyboard interplay supplied by Rayburn Blake and Pierre Senecal.

17. Gene McDaniels - A Hundred Pounds of Clay (Liberty, 1961)

I remember hearing this song a lot on the local oldies radio station back when I was a teenager and thinking that it was a really nice piece of early 1960s orchestrated soul as well as a rather a clever reworking of the Pygmalion myth. Fast forward several years later to the time when I acquired Outlaw and Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse by Eugene McDaniels and finding out that he is the same person as Gene McDaniels. As you can well imagine, it was an extremely enlightening discovery. While those two LPs have received well-earned accolades as extremely deep artistic statements, the comparatively innocent-sounding "Hundred Pounds of Clay," a #3 pop hit, remains the singer's commercial high-water mark.

18. The Beau Brummels - Don't Talk to Strangers (Autumn, 1965)

On the rapturously jangly "Don't Talk to Strangers," the Beau Brummels practically out-Byrds the Byrds with the added bonus of one of Sal Valentio's finest vocal performances. Without question, this is the San Francisco folk rock outfit's most sublime moment, and it deserved a much better fate than the #52 position it earned on the US pop charts. At least our friends up in Canada had the good sense and taste to make it a #16 hit in their country.

19. Charlie Frederick - The Big Pipeline* (Cross Roads, circa 1975)

The most popular country music artists in the 1970s tended to be those who were lumped in with either the countrypolitan or the outlaw movements. On the outside looking in, there were singers who didn't belong to either group and recorded a few singles for small independent labels with little commercial success to show for it. One such performer is West Virginia's Charlie Frederick, whose forte are songs about working folks such as "Twenty-Nine More Men," included on the Works' Many Voices Volume I compilation. Even better is this heartfelt tribute to "the construction workers of the great Alaskan (oil) pipeline," as the inscription reads on the label of this fantastic but little-heard 45.

20. The Majic Ship - On the Edge* (Crazy Horse, 1969)

The orchestrated psych of "On the Edge" sounds considerably different than the more stripped-down material found on Majic Ship's lone LP that was recorded right around the same time. Nevertheless, the song is a great atmospheric performance with a doom-laden vibe and arrangements that become intrusive only when they occasionally overwhelm the song's wicked guitar solos.

21. The Spike-Drivers - High Time (Reprise, 1966)

I'll take my review on track #3 a step further by saying that the backing song "High Time" should have made this 45 a double-sided hit record. Once again, this version sounds a bit more AM radio-friendly than the alternate featured on Folkrocking Psychedelia from the Motor City, but the combination of the group's flawless harmony vocals and Sid Brown's redoubtable fretwork provide yet another example of why 1966 was one of my favorite years in the history of American music.

22. Medicine Head - Rising Sun (Polydor, 1973)

Medicine Head's "Rising Sun" was a sizable 1973 hit (#11) in the UK, and this English-Welsh duo must have been fairly popular in Europe as well. At least that's the conclusion I came to after finding this Yugoslavian-pressed picture sleeve 45 in a Zagreb record store during my visit to Croatia in 2002. As a quintessential piece of the early 1970s British music scene, this song comes off like something that would not have sounded out of place on a T. Rex album from around the same time.

23. The Rooftop Singers - Walk Right In (Vanguard, 1963)

Notable as Vanguard Records' best-selling single of all time, "Walk Right In" achieved massive success on the pop, Easy Listening, country, and even the R&B charts when it was released during the height of the early 1960s folk revival. I'm partial to the original 1929 recording by Cannon's Jug Stompers, but I still cannot deny the appealing nature of this somewhat pasteurized interpretation by the Rooftop Singers. Although Lynne Taylor's vocal contributions are admittedly cloying at times, Erik Darling and Bill Svanoe's resonant 12-string guitars perfectly complement one another, while the restrained snare drum accompaniment presages the forthcoming folk rock revolution that was yet to come.

24. Jimmy Witherspoon - I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water (Reprise, 1962)

Singer-pianist Jimmy Witherspoon is sometimes a little too smooth for my taste in blues artists, but when I'm in the right mood, his best performances go down like 100-year-old bourbon. I can easily picture him as Frank Sinatra's ideal kind of blues singer, possibly accounting for the two albums he recorded for Reprise in the early 1960s. This definitive take on the standard "I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water" comes from the Roots LP, on which he is paired with legendary jazz saxophonist Ben Webster to excellent effect.

25. Dion - Abraham, Martin and John (Laurie, 1968)

The same oldies station (WJMK 104.3 FM for all you fellow Chicagoland people out there) mentioned in my write-up for "A Hundred Pounds of Clay" also played this song on a regular basis in the 1980s and early 1990s, which made me a lifelong fan of the folk rock phase of Dion's recording career. As corny as it may sound, I can't help getting a little choked up every time I hear this authoritative version of "Abraham, Martin and John," a testament to the power of DiMucci's unparalleled vocals and John Abbott's elegant arrangements. That it peaked at "only" #4 on the US pop charts seems to be a minor miscarriage of justice if you ask me.

All tracks monaural, except (*) stereo.

Johnny Darrell - Water Glass Full of Whiskey (Capricorn, 1975)

2011-07-02T17:59:00.004-05:00

The 1970s were not kind to Johnny Darrell. The decade started out on a promising note with the uneven but still worthwhile California Stop-Over, but that album also marked the end of his tenure with United Artists. Its failure to sell certainly factored into the company's decision not to offer him another recording contract. Between 1970 and 1975, Darrell didn't release any LPs at all, although he did have a handful of singles issued by the Cartwheel and Monument labels. Despite his low commercial profile, the press began to identity Darrell with country music's quickly growing Outlaw movement during this time. Several sources have mentioned his close friendships with Waylon Jennings and Kris Kirstofferson, and I imagine that he spent these years consuming large quantities of marijuana and liquor frequently in their company. Perhaps due to the successful crowd with which he was associated, Capricorn Records, the preeminent Southern rock label, was willing to give Darrell a final shot at reestablishing his once-promising career. When he entered the recording studio in late 1974 to begin work on Water Glass Full of Whiskey, it seemed like the beginning of an ideal match. Unfortunately, the LP failed to sell in significant numbers, and the singer was cut adrift by yet another record company.

Big Johnny Darrell fan that I am, I wish I could tell you that Water Glass Full of Whiskey is a lost country music masterpiece that simply went over the heads of too many of its listeners. However, that's simply not the case. It's not a terrible album, but it's not a particularly remarkable one, either. The back of the sleeve identifies it as part of Capricorn's "Kickin' Country" series even though there is very little kick to be found in any of these songs. People who bought this LP back in 1975 must have wondered what the fuss concerning Darrell's Outlaw credentials was all about. Some of the blame might be attributable to Billy Sherrill's involvement as a recording engineer since his preferred modus operandi at the control panel was to bury everything under his characteristic saccharine arrangements. That said, if you like mid 1970s countrypolitan records, Water Glass Full of Whiskey might be right up your alley.

The opening track, a fairly spirited interpretation of the country standard "Orange Blossom Special," starts off well enough, especially with Reggie Young's impressive electric guitar picking. When those telltale Billy Sherrill strings kick in, however, they rob the performance of the rootsiness that characterize the best renditions of this song. Selected as a single, it peaked at #63 on the country charts. This album gets its title from a line in the lyrics of "Pieces of My Life," a Troy Seals composition featuring Darrell's typically superb vocals that also happen to be encased in a coating of fluff. One can assess "Hardtime Charlie Softshoes" and "Love's Lullaby" in similar fashion. Things pick up with the stripped-down and relatively rockin' "Glendale, Arizona," a rare example of Darrell doing his own material (it was co-written with Judy Riley). Nevertheless, it's back to the easy-listening country formula that typifies Water Glass Full of Whiskey on "Rose Colored Gin," "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan," and "Singin' Lonely Songs," the last of which would have sounded a lot better had it been recorded by the singer with only the accompaniment of his own guitar. The same issues that prevent "Orange Blossom Special" from being completely successful also plague this LP's version of Bill Monroe's "Uncle Pen." That sterile string section in the mix leaves the song sounding about as far removed from its bluegrass origins as possible. The closing track, "Crazy Daddy," an updated take on another tune written by Darrell that first appeared as a single on Monument in 1973, has lyrics that suggest it may have been written with his daughter Lisa in mind. As touching as that sentiment may be, it doesn't prevent the performance from being as lightweight as most of the other songs on this record.

1. Orange Blossom Special
2. Pieces of My Life
3. Hardtime Charlie Softshoes
4. Love's Lullaby
5. Glendale, Arizona
6. Rose Colored Gin
7. The Ballad of Lucy Jordan
8. Singin' Lonely Songs
9. Uncle Pen
10. Crazy Daddy

Fear Itself - Fear Itself (Dot, 1969)

2011-06-29T23:59:00.004-05:00

With my twin passions for blues and 1960s psych, one might think that I would also have a special place in my heart for a hybrid that combines the two genres. In general, this is not the case. While there are some prominent exceptions - the Insect Trust, Canned Heat, the Butterfield Blues Band, and the Blues Project come to mind - most countercultural bands during the dawning of the Age of Aquarius simply could not grasp the more subtle characteristics of this uniquely African-American style of artistic expression. Part of the problem lie with the indirect sources that influenced many well-meaning melanin-impoverished interpreters. Although British bands like the Rolling Stones should still be commended for turning on countless Caucasian American teenagers to a style of indigenous music to which they had remained underexposed due to cultural norms of the day, many of the musicians that such groups inspired possessed insufficient curiosity to seek out blues in its original form. This trickling-down has often resulted in a widespread misunderstanding of what constitutes authenticity in the genre, with endless guitar soloing a la Blueshammer being the most egregious example. Consequently, the white musicians who have most successfully adapted blues for their own uses are not the ones who merely imitate the originators or earlier interpreters but rather those who incorporate it into a larger body of musical influences and create a new synthesis in the process.

Although the four bands mentioned above exemplify some of the more prolific outfits obviously influenced by original blues recordings, the decade in which they existed also produced a few one-shots who seem to have been similarly moved by going directly to the source in lieu of exposure through British exponents of the style. Referring to singer-guitarist Ellen McIlwaine (b. 1945) in such a manner is not really accurate because of the number of albums she has released since going solo, but the lone eponymous LP by her 1960s band, Fear Itself, qualifies as one of the most interesting blues-inspired records of the period. Although American by birth, she spent her formative years growing up in Japan with her adoptive missionary parents, an experience that undoubtedly provided her with a unique worldview. McIlwaine returned to the United States in mid 1960s and first settled in Atlanta, where she attended art school and began her career as a professional musician. 1966 found her performing regularly in the clubs of New York City's Greenwich Village, appearing as the opening act for rediscovered bluesmen and occasionally sharing the stage with a young Jimi Hendrix. Inspired by the burgeoning psychedelic rock movement sweeping the country, she recruited lead guitarist Chris Zaloom, bassist Steve Cook, and drummer Bill McCord as the supporting musicians for Fear Itself during her return to Atlanta. In 1968, the quartet relocated to Woodstock, New York and started working on their album under the supervision of noted producer Tom Wilson. According to one source, Cook quit after the recording sessions and was replaced by Paul Album (who is erroneously[?] credited as the bass player in the inner gatefold), and it was this version of the band that apparently played at Woodstock (the festival) in 1969. Fear Itself's new new bassist was killed in a car crash caused by a drunk driver not long afterward, a tragic event that ultimately contributed to the group's dissolution. Since that time, McIlwaine has continued playing and recording on her own terms while keeping her repertory fresh through the assimilation of world music elements into her unique performing style. She is rightly recognized for her outstanding talents as both a vocalist and guitarist (with an emphasis on slide). Zaloom has earned a reputation for being a musician's musician and continues to reside in Woodstock at last report.

TOP L TO R: ELLEN McILWAINE & CHRIS ZALOOM - BOTTOM L TO R: STEVE
COOK (OR PAUL ALBUM) & BILL McCORD (OR PERHAPS VICE VERSA)

Fear Itself was the best rock album ever released on the usually lame Dot label and arguably one of the finest from any record company to combine blues and psychedelic rock as major ingredients. The comparisons of Ellen McIlwaine to Big Brother & the Holding Company-era Janis Joplin are, of course, inevitable as are the approaches of the supporting musicians. While both bands were undeniably heavy and quintessential products of the 1960s, their singers serve as a study in contrasts. While Joplin frequently comes off as abrasively screechy and undisciplined, McIlwaine's husky vocals sound pleasantly earthy but never out of control. Moreover, the latter possesses far greater skill as an instrumentalist as demonstrated by her impressive contributions on rhythm guitar, harmonica, and organ throughout the proceedings. "Crawling Kingsnake" and "Born Under a Bad Sign," blues standards that bookend the LP, rank among the better white interpretations of these songs that you're likely to hear, although they also might suffer a bit from overfamiliarity. "Underground River" is a superbly unique McIlwaine original featuring excellent guitar interplay between her and Saloom in addition to lyrics that are evidently about Jimi Hendrix. "Bow'd Up" sounds like a tongue-in-cheek ditty that is antithetical to the strong personality that I imagine the singer to be. "For Suki" contains more impressive fretwork that finely complements McIlwaine's powerful vocals. Judging by its title, I'm guessing that it must have been dedicated to someone she knew in Japan. As was the custom of the day, labels often gave bands an opportunity to stretch out and "do their own thing" on one album track. In this case, that particular piece is a rendition of the old gospel tune "In My Time of Dying" (recorded in the 1920s by Blind Willie Johnson as "Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed" and Charlie Patton as "Jesus Is a Dying-Bed Maker") that clocks in at eight-and-a-half minutes and blows Led Zeppelin's better-known version clear out of the water. Although the cover of the Box Tops' "The Letter" is merely competent, the following cut, "Lazarus," qualifies as Fear Itself's masterpiece. Once again, a vintage spiritual serves as source material, but the psychedelic haze that envelops it transforms the piece into an exercise in first-rate mind expansion. I can't say enough good things about this track. "Mossy Dream" comes out of nowhere featuring Procol Harum-like arrangements, with McIlwaine's stately organ playing to the fore. "Billy Gene" is another song that could have only come from her fertile imagination, and as such, defies easy categorization. At one point in the performance it sounds like McIlwaine goes into her singular take on scat singing (including Japanese syllables, no less). It must have been a favorite of hers because it reappeared with a slightly different title ("Jimmy Jean") on her We the People LP from 1973.

1. Crawling Kingsnake
2. Underground River
3. Bow'd Up
4. For Suki
5. In My Time of Dying
6. The Letter
7. Lazarus
8. Mossy Dream
9. Billy Gene
10. Born Under a Bad Sign

The Wicker Man - The Original Soundtrack Album (Silva Screen Records, 2002)

2011-06-21T23:59:00.007-05:00

The only thing better than a five-star movie is a five-star movie with a five-star soundtrack, the latter of which I believe perfectly describes The Wicker Man. No, I'm not talking about that abominable remake with non-talent Nicholas Cage that came out a few years ago. I'm referring to the original 1973 British Lion version with Edward Woodward and Christopher Lee that continues to provoke strong reactions to this very day.

SERGEANT HOWIE (EDWARD WOODWARD) AFFIRMS HIS CHRISTIAN FAITH

As a cult film, it equally attracts both fanatics (myself included) and detractors. In my experience, those who have expressed a dislike for The Wicker Man tend to be people who wanted to see a horror film with a lot of blood and gore, and instead got something quite different than what they had anticipated. This is a much deeper, multi-layered motion picture than that, although it would not be improper to acknowledge that there is a strong element of terror that significantly factors into the plot. Consequently, one can still use the word "horror" for descriptive purposes, but with the understanding that such a term more accurately applies to the general feel of dread and foreboding that is present throughout the feature. Viewers expecting graphic violence, monsters, and supernatural occurrences will only be disappointed. One reviewer stated that The Wicker Man is more of a mystery movie than anything else, and I would have to agree more than disagree with that assessment. While the plot does unfold in an investigative fashion, it is the other aspects of this difficult-to-classify flick that make it one of my all-time favorites. Indeed, The Wicker Man can also be appreciated as a thriller, a religious work, and even a musical.

CHRISTOPHER LEE AS LORD SUMMERISLE

Its musical-like characteristics, of course, are a big part of the reason why the soundtrack is so successful. The songs are not merely background noise; they are an essential part of the movie itself. Quite simply, the British Isles folk music-derived performances possess the same disarmingly creepy vibe that makes The Wicker Man so appealing to its fans. Not only will the tracks on this CD evoke particularly memorable scenes in the minds of those already familiar with the film, listening to such material on its own will also help the initiated realize how integral this soundtrack is to making these scenes so unforgettable in the first place. It is hard to imagine Sergeant Howie's arrival on Summerisle without the footage being accompanied by the pastoral "Corn Rigs" and his first night at the inn without the musicians in the barroom playing the bawdy "Landlord's Daughter" or the hypnotic acid folk of "Gently Johnny." "Willow's Song" comes off as seductive as the erotic scene for which it was composed, while "Maypole" and "Fire Leap" sound wonderfully pagan to my ears. "The Tinker of Rye" gives the listener an opportunity to enjoy the surprisingly capable vocal duet of Christopher Lee and Diane Cilento, with the instrumentals "The Procession" and "Chop Chop" serving as examples of atmospheric soundtrack music at its finest. The ethereal "Lullaby" and the "Festival/Mirie It Is/Sumer Is a-Cumen In" medley arguably exemplify that aforementioned creepy vibe better than anything else on this disc. The incidental music that concludes this recording is the icing on the cake, even if these tracks are not as fully realized as the preceding material. Having had a bootleg version of this soundtrack without these titles for a number of years before this official version was released, I found them to be a minor revelation, especially "Opening Music," which sounds like an old Scottish folk song with enchanting Northumbrian smallpipes accompaniment.

"THEY DO LOVE THEIR DIVINITY LESSONS"

And the musicians responsible for this one-of-a-kind soundtrack? Collectively, they were an ad hoc group called Magnet, which was headed by American songwriter Paul Giovanni and assisted by British folk rock musicians Gary Carpenter (recorder, lyre), Andrew Tompkins (guitar), Ian Cutler (violin), Peter Brewis (recorder, Jew's harp, harmonica, bass guitar, etc.), Michael Cole (concertina, harmonica, bassoon), and Bernard Murray (percussion). This CD's extremely informative notes provide fascinating details on the making of the movie and the recording sessions for the soundtrack. Most importantly - at least from a musicological perspective - Carpenter's section of the booklet mentions many of the traditional songs on which several of these tracks are based.

BELGIAN MOVIE POSTER

Songs from Summerisle - Ballads of Seduction, Fertility, and Ritual Slaughter
1. Corn Rigs
2. The Landlord's Daughter
3. Gently Johnny
4. Maypole
5. Fire Leap
6. The Tinker of Rye
7. Willow's Song
8. Procession
9. Chop Chop
10. Lullaby
11. Festival/Mirie It Is/Sumer Is a-Cumen In

Incidental Music from The Wicker Man
12. Opening Music/Loving Couples/The Ruined Church
13. The Masks/The Hobby Horse
14. Searching for Rowan
15. Appointment with the Wicker Man
16. Sunset

78 Quarterly Volume 1 - No. 6 (1991)

2011-06-17T23:59:00.003-05:00

I recently learned that my all-time favorite magazine, 78 Quarterly, has officially run its course and is no longer in circulation. At the ripe old age of 80, editor-publisher Pete Whelan apparently just doesn't have it in him to keep it going. Considering what a great resource his periodical is to fans of vintage American music - blues especially - and how much time and attention he obviously put into each issue, his retirement from this labor of love is well-deserved. There is so much fascinating information collectively contained in the pages of its dozen installments that it would take a lifetime for someone to absorb all of the specifics contained therein. With today's post being an overview of Volume One, No. 6, that means we're halfway finished with making all 12 issues available in PDF format for research purposes.

TONY MOSTROM'S ARTISTRY PERFECTLY COMPLEMENTS
HIS ESOTERIC SENSE OF HUMOR - CLICK TO ENLARGE

As usual, things get started with the best "Letters to the Editor" section ever to be featured in a magazine. That is, if you're obsessively into prewar blues and related styles. Then there is an auction list with a list of 78s that I can only dream about. Following that, the real writing begins...

ORPHEUS MYRON MCADOO, "SINGER AND IMPRESARIO OF THE
VIRGINIA JUBILEE SINGERS," ONE OF MANY FORGOTTEN
MUSICAL PIONEERS MENTIONED IN "100 YEARS FROM TODAY"

Several of the articles are continuations of multi-part series that began in previous issues. Stephen Calt and Gayle Dean Wardlow's fourth chapter in their gripping history of Paramount Records covers the time during which Arthur Laibly was sales manager and recording director for the label, an era when it "became a dumping-ground for uncommercial 'race' talent." Additionally, their piece presents some fascinating details on Mayo Williams's departure from the company and the important role that Birmingham talent scout Harry Charles played in recording prewar blues artists from Alabama such as Bo Weavil Jackson, Ed Bell, Buddy Boy Hawkins, Cow Cow Davenport, and many others. The second part of William Howard "Louie Bluie" Armstrong's autobiography as told to Terry Zwigoff is a must-read for anyone who found the first part in No. 5 as absorbing as I did.

MORE OF TONY MOSTROM'S ARTISTIC HUMOR WITH A VERY
SPECIFIC TARGET AUDIENCE IN MIND - CLICK TO ENLARGE

Going back to records that are strictly the stuff of fantasy, "78 Presents the Rarest 78s" provides a roll call for super-rare shellac by artists with names beginning with the letters H, I, and Ja. An interesting exercise would be to determine the total monetary value of all the discs included in the list. The subtitle of the second appearance of "100 Years from Today," which for the next few issues would be a regularly-featured section in the magazine, pretty much tells you everything that you need to know: "A Survey of Afro-American Music in 1890 as Recorded in the Black Community Press." Reading these contemporary accounts is kind of like being an archaeologist stumbling upon historical documents from a lost civilization. Part four of Tom Tsotsi's history of Gennett Records perfectly complements its aforementioned counterpart in the Paramount series as it discusses the company's relationship with Mayo Williams and his celebrated but short-lived Black Patti label among other things.

Of course, the excellent roots music journalism that defines 78 also manifests itself with a couple of stand-alone articles. "The Myth of Rock and Roll" by Stephen Calt is one of the most thought-provoking things ever written about a genre that resists being easily defined to this very day. Read this extremely persuasive and impeccably-researched piece, and you will understand why. Cal Stephens supplies a transcription of Booker "Bukka" White's recollections of Alabamian harmonica player George "Bullet" Williams, which is about the only biographical information that we have on this elusive harp blower. And finally, for good measure, this issue includes a couple of hilarious cartoons (well, at least I think they are) by Tony Mostrom and a handful of book reviews.

Mandatory summer reading for the Yazoo-Document-Mamlish-Origin Jazz Library-Old Hat Records, etc., etc. crowd.

Richard A. Hagopian & Buddy Sarkissian - Kef Time (Traditional Crossroads, 1968; 1994)

2011-06-14T23:59:00.004-05:00

Although the majority of musicians of Armenian descent in the United States who established themselves during the 1960s hailed from cities along the Atlantic seaboard such as New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, a considerable number of their counterparts on the West Coast also made significant contributions to the emerging and uniquely American version of Middle Eastern music. Today, Los Angeles is known for its large Armenian community, but it is the city of Fresno, located in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley region, that has traditionally been the epicenter of activity for members of this particular ethnic group in California. Initially attracted by a climate and topography similar to that of their homeland, it was inevitable that these immigrants who numbered in the thousands would bring their folkways with them. Since, in many cases, they came from different villages than their brethren who had settled back east, their repertories sometimes consisted of different material, which ultimately contributed to the development of a performing style that is particular to Armenian-Americans on the West Coast.

A MORE RECENT PHOTO OF UDI RICHARD A. HAGOPIAN

In addition to John Bilezikjian, Richard A. Hagopian ranks among the top oudists to have emerged from the Armenian community in California, although his musical expertise extends to several other instruments as well. His credentials have been considerably enhanced through lessons with legendary figures including Udi Hrant Kenkulian and Kanuni Garbis Bakirgian. Hagopian's instrumental talents had been apparent since an early age, but his career really took off in the mid 1960s when he was recruited by dumbeg player Buddy Sarkissian (a native of Lawrence, Massachusetts and younger brother of percussionist Mike Sarkissian) to join his group of musicians in Las Vegas. This unit, the Kef Time Band, performed as part of a show called the Cleopatra Revue that was staged at the famous Flamingo Hotel from 1963 until 1968 and doubtlessly exposed many Americans to the sounds of the Middle East for the first time. Nonosh, an authority on such music and a frequent commenter on this blog, has explained to me that the term "kef" is an Armenian loanword derived from the Arabic "kief," meaning "pleasure" or "well-being." Potheads, of course, will recognize the latter as the word for the powdery THC crystals that coat marijuana buds. With that in mind, I'll go with Nonosh's definition - "natural high" - as my favorite, though collectively "kef time" might be best translated into English as "party time." That's not to suggest that this is "stoner music" by any stretch of the imagination, but it often does possess a euphoric quality that should provide aficionados of Middle Eastern music with a really nice buzz.

A CLEAN-SHAVEN BUDDY SARKISSIAN, CIRCA 1980

Kef Time compiles the group's Kef Time Las Vegas and Kef Time Fresno LPs (plus one bonus track) from 1968 onto one CD. There is not a dull moment to be found on any of these 17 performances, which consist of Armenian and Turkish standards as well as new interpretations of traditional material that reflect the immigrant experience in America. Recorded at the end of their tenure with the Cleopatra Revue, Hagopian and Sarkissian - along with Hachig Kazarian on clarinet, Manny Petro on guitar, Jack Chalikian on kanun, and Russell Jajour on tambourine and zils - are in top form as a result of five years of non-stop playing for the hordes of Las Vegas tourists. It is tempting to focus exclusively on the headliners' magnificent oud and dumbeg playing, but that would be doing a tremendous disservice to the other extremely talented musicians who take part in these proceedings, especially the redoubtable Kazarian and Chalikian. And that doesn't even take into consideration that Hagopian also possesses an engaging, robust singing voice as heard on "Soode Soode," "Elimon Ektim Tasa," "Telegrafin Telleri," "Konyali," "Tin Tin," "Huseynigin Sazera," "Adalar," "Sulukule," "Kale Kale," "Cile Bulbul Cile," and "Koprumun Alti Diken/Yar Saclarin." (If you don't understand Armenian or Turkish, the booklet notes provide translations of the lyrics.) Regarding the instrumentals, "Dersim Medley," "Halay," "Sepastia Bar," "Karslama," "Siro Yerk," and "Laz Bar" are as conducive to achieving "kef" as you might imagine.

BUDDY (L) & RICHARD BACK IN THE DAY

1. Soode Soode
2. Dersim Medley
3. Elimon Ektim Tasa
4. Telegrafin Telleri
5. Halay
6. Konyali
7. Sepastia Bar
8. Tin Tin
9. Karslama
10. Huseynigin Sazera
11. Adalar
12. Sulukule
13. Kale Kale
14. Siro Yerk
15. Cile Bulbul Cile
16. Koprumun Alti Diken/Yar Saclarin
17. Laz Bar*

*previously unreleased

Field Recordings Volume 1: Virginia 1936-1941 Booklet Notes

2011-06-13T23:24:00.005-05:00

Like the title line sez...

This is a follow-up to the previous post in which I had inquired if anyone out there had the booklet notes for Field Recordings Volume 1: Virginia 1936-1941. It took only one day for "Fat Belly Jones" to respond and supply me with the requested material. You are a true gentleman, sir, and I greatly appreciate your generosity.

Now that I have access to the information presented in these notes, I see that I had made a few mistakes in my original post on this CD. While I acknowledged the vocal presence of Joe Lee on "Do, Lord, Remember Me," which he performs with Jimmie Strothers, Tony Russell writes that the former also used a wire to beat the neck of the latter's guitar to provide rhythmic accompaniment. Lee apparently does the same thing on "Poontang Little, Poontang Small."

As it turns out, the Emmons Baptist Church group recordings are from 1936 and not 1941 as I had suspected.

Please see the comments for more information.

Field Recordings Volume 1: Virginia 1936-1941 (Document, 1997)

2011-06-09T23:59:00.003-05:00

Have any of you ever wondered what the deal is with those albums for sale on Amazon that are described in the following manner: "CD-R Note: This product is manufactured on demand when ordered from Amazon.com." Well, wonder no more since the subject of this review is one of those albums. According to Amazon,

CD-Rs and DVD-Rs (the "R" stands for "recordable") look like the discs you're used to and offer the same audio and image quality. The recordable media is used to manufacture titles on demand, as fully authorized by the content provider.

Through manufacturing on demand, CreateSpace, part of the Amazon.com group of companies, enables Amazon.com to offer music and video content that might not otherwise be available. Each disc comes fully packaged, with artwork, in a standard jewel case for audio and an Amaray case for video, although for reissued products the artwork may differ from the original.

CreateSpace works with many of the leading music labels, television networks, film studios, and other distributors to make these titles available to Amazon.com customers. All products are manufactured from original source materials (e.g., for audio products, uncompressed CD-quality audio).

I'm not going to complain too much about this particular item since I knew about the medium on which it was recorded prior to ordering the product. However, the biggest disappointment is the fact that the booklet notes were not reproduced in this facsimile of the genuine article. For anyone who is as obsessed as I am with prewar blues and its various roots and branches, you know how important such information is and what a good job the Yazoo and Document labels usually do in presenting it. To further complicate matters, the track listing includes the titles of the songs but not the names of the musicians. Seriously, Amazon, if you're going to sell these CDRs for the same price as new CDs, you really need to include such minutiae in order to justify how much they cost. Such shortcomings don't make my job as a reviewer any easier, either, since I often rely on such information as research material for my write-ups. So, caveat emptor to those thinking about purchasing these CreateSpace CDRs. Does anybody out there have the original CD version of this album? If so, would you be willing to scan the complete booklet notes and e-mail them to me?

HAROLD SPIVACKE IN 1946

Document's superb Field Recordings series gets off to a great start with this excellent collection of material collected in Virginia shortly before the United States' entry into World War II. Most, if not all, of these tracks were recorded by Harold Spivacke, who was head of the Library of Congress's Music Division from 1937 until 1972, and the better-known John Lomax, whose efforts for the Archive of American Folk Song should be familiar to the majority of Record Fiend readers. In a fashion consistent with the latter's frequently utilized modus operandi, the bulk of these sessions took place in correctional institutions - in this particular case, the State Penitentiary in Richmond and the Virginia State Farm in Lynn.

COLOR-TINTED PHOTO OF THE VIRGINIA
STATE PENITENTIARY IN RICHMOND, 1911

In many respects, Field Recordings Volume 1: Virginia 1936-1941 can be appreciated as a companion piece to Red River Blues 1934-1943 since four of the featured musicians appear on both discs. Steve Leggett's writings that are posted throughout the Internet have helped provide me with what little information is available about this CD and the music that it contains. My educated guess is that the first 13 tracks - consisting of spirituals, songster material, and track-lining songs - were recorded at the State Penitentiary in Richmond in 1936. John Williams's "'Twas on a Monday," Willie Williams's "(The) New Burying Ground," and "Bitin' Spider" (a variant of "Take This Hammer"), and J. (James) Wilson's "Can't You Line 'Em" and "Laying Rail (1 & 2)" are the type of spellbinding a cappella group performances that sadly seemed to be collected only when blacks were incarcerated in the hellhole prisons of the South. Simply put, the unaccompanied solo pieces - Willie Williams's "Oh Lawd, Don't 'Low Me to Beat 'Em," Wilson's "Have Children of My Own," "Po' Boy," and "Frankie and Johnny," and Lemuel Jones's "Po' Farmer (Poor Farmers)" and "Shake It, Mama" - are no less affecting. Jimmie Owens supplies some excellent slide guitar work on his interpretation of "John Henry," while the six-string instrumental accompaniment on "Freight Train Blues" by James Henry Diggs (who might or might not be backed by another musician) suffers in comparison solely because it seems to have been improperly recorded. Tracks 14 through 31 almost definitely come from Lomax and Spivacke's visit to the Virginia State Farm in Lynn in 1936, which resulted in a discovery who arguably ranks behind only Lead Belly in terms of significance for incarcerated performers documented by the Library of Congress. According to Leggett, Jimmie Strothers worked the medicine show circuit before doing a stint as a miner. An underground explosion left him blind and necessitated a return to playing music (as a street singer) in a professional capacity. Strothers found himself at the State Farm after being tried and convicted for murdering his wife with a hatchet. His criminality aside, he was a proto-bluesman with a repertory that does much to give us an idea of what kind of material was commonly performed by musicians of his ilk. His booming stentorian voice and rudimentary yet forceful approach on banjo and guitar indicate that he was a songster of the highest caliber. One can only wonder if Strothers could have been successful as a commercial recording artist had he not run afoul of the law. His proficiency with a variety of material is nothing short of astonishing, whether its gospel ("Keep Away from the Bloodstained Banners," "Run Down, Eli," "We Are Almost Down to the Shore"), minstrel-medicine show tunes ("Tennessee Dog," "Jaybird," "Daddy, Where You Been So Long?," "Though I Heard My Banjo Say") work songs ("Corn-Shucking Time," "I Used to Work on the Tractor," "Dis Ol' Hammer"), or a bawdy ditty ("Poontang Little, Poontang Small"). (As a side note, Leggett incorrectly identifies these tracks as being Strothers' complete recorded works since he does not take into account the blues masterpiece "Goin' to Richmond" included on the aforementioned Red River Blues.) On another religious number, "Do, Lord, Remember Me," the blind songster is joined by Joe Lee, who are both pictured (from left to right) on the CD booklet's cover at the top of this post. The latter's solo a cappella versions of the spirituals "House Done Built Without Hands," "Shines Like a Star in the Morning," "Oh the Lamb of God Done Sanctified Me," "I'll Go On," and "Rise, Run Along, Mourner" are impressive on their own merits. I'm going to bet that the last three tracks were recorded after 1936 with the strong possibility that all of them date from 1941. Exactly where the sessions took place is another matter. The Emmons Baptist Church group offers more sanctified pleasures on "Oh Jesus, Let Me Ride" and "I'm Strivin'," which are marred somewhat by lousy sound quality. In spite of its nondescript title, "Blues" is a fascinating patchwork of different songs ("Nearer My God to Thee," "Alabama Bound," "Trouble, I've It All My Days," "Matchbox Blues," among others) strung together in stream-of-consciousness fashion by the mysterious slide guitar-playing "Big Boy." To my ears, it sounds like the Virginia equivalent to Tom Bradford's "Going North" featured on Alabama: Black Secular & Religious Music 1927-1934.

JOHN LOMAX WITH HIS UBIQUITOUS CIGAR

1. 'Twas on a Monday - John Williams
2. Oh Lawd, Don't 'Low Me to Beat 'Em - Willie Williams
3. (The) New Buryin' Ground - Willie Williams
4. Bitin' Spider - Willie Williams
5. Can't You Line 'Em - J. Wilson
6. Laying Rail Chant (1 & 2) - J. Wilson
7. Have Children of My Own - J. Wilson
8. Po' Boy - J. Wilson
9. Frankie and Johnny - J. Wilson
10. Po' Farmer (Po' Farmers) - Lemuel Jones
11. Shake It, Mama - Lemuel Jones
12. John Henry - Jimmie Owens
13. Freight Train Blues - James Henry Diggs
14. Keep Away from the Bloodstained Banners - Jimmie Strothers
15. Tennessee Dog - Jimmie Strothers
16. Run Down, Eli - Jimmie Strothers
17. We Are Almost Down to the Shore - Jimmie Strothers
18. Jaybird (take 1) - Jimmie Strothers
19. Jaybird (take 2) - Jimmie Strothers
20. Corn-Shucking Time - Jimmie Strothers
21. Daddy, Where You Been So Long? - Jimmie Strothers
22. I Used to Work on the Tractor - Jimmie Strothers
23. Though I Heard My Banjo Say - Jimmie Strothers
24. House Done Built Without Hands - Joe Lee
25. Dis Ol' Hammer - Jimmie Strothers
26. Shines Like a Star in the Morning - Joe Lee
27. Do, Lord, Remember Me - Jimmie Strothers & Joe Lee
28. Poontang Little, Poontang Small - Jimmie Strothers
29. Oh the Lamb of God Done Sanctified Me - Joe Lee
30. I'll Go On - Joe Lee
31. Rise, Run Along, Mourner - Joe Lee
32. Oh Jesus, Let Me Ride - Group (Emmons Baptist Church)
33. I'm Strivin' - Group (Emmons Baptist Church)
34. Blues - "Big Boy"

Cow Cow Davenport - The Accompanist (1924-1929) (Document, 1993)

2011-06-06T23:59:00.003-05:00

By request.

The life of Charles "Cow Cow" Davenport (1894-1955) is the stuff of legend. Born in Anniston, Alabama to a preacher father and an organ-playing mother (named Queen Victoria Jacobs, no less), he went against his parents' wishes and devoted himself to playing the "sinful" music heard in barrelhouses, bordellos, tent shows, and vaudeville theaters and became one of the most important and influential prewar blues pianists in the process. His signature "Cow Cow Blues" and the equally compelling "State Street Jive" are rightly recognized as boogie woogie classics, although an inspection of Davenport's complete discography reveals that he was a multifaceted artist capable of playing a wide range of styles and with an equally diverse number of performers. As you can probably surmise by its title, Cow Cow Davenport - The Accompanist (1924-1929) primarily focuses on sides where he performed as a backing musician to an assortment of blues vocalists. While the featured singers are of varying quality, Davenport's expert ivory-ticking skills manage to keep things interesting throughout this particular CD.

The first six titles rank among Cow Cow's earliest recordings and find him sharing vocal duties with Dora Carr in similar fashion to the duets of Coot Grant and Kid Wilson or Butterbeans and Susie, as Mike Rowe astutely points out in the booklet notes. If you like those kind of humorous battle-of-the-sexes blues, then these half-dozen tunes will be right up your alley. Interestingly enough, Davenport does not function as an instrumentalist on any of them, with the piano probably being played instead by Clarence Williams. And for those wondering, the "pizen" in the title of the first track is defined by Stephen Calt in Barrelhouse Words as "a 19th-century variant of poison that survives in Southern dialect. According to one lexicographer, pizen is 'a pronunciation that the South's early aristocrats borrowed from upper-class English speech.'" I think that it's sometimes possible to tell when a blues musician is going to be lame based upon his or her nickname, so adjust your expectations accordingly in regard to Hound Head Henry. Believe it or not, his inclusion on this disc was what prompted me to purchase it some 15 years ago, even in spite of his somewhat ridiculous sobriquet. Charlie Patton fanatic that I am, I just had to hear "Cryin' Blues," which had apparently been the inspiration for the Founder of the Delta Blues' "Poor Me," waxed during his final recording session in 1934. I like Patton's interpretation a lot better than the original, that's for sure. Most of the titles of Henry's eight sides make reference to his ability to imitate animals or machines. While his impressions are admittedly uncanny, they are also excessive for the most part and leave such performances sounding like little more than novelty songs at best. Not surprisingly, Henry's most straightforward performance, "My Silver Dollar Mama," also comes off as his finest. The obscure Jim Towel chips in with "I've Been Hoodooed" and "Buckwheat Cakes," which may not appeal to those with a preference for lowdown blues, but will certainly be appreciated by vintage music fans interested in vaudeville minstrel songs. Memphis Joe's "Plenty Gals Blues" (a variation on the "Gang of Brown Skin Women" idiom) is cut from a similar cloth. Despite Rowe's less-than-enthusiastic commentary in the aforementioned booklet notes, the vocal harmonizing of the Southern Blues Singers adds vitality to the familiar themes expressed in "Lighthouse Blues," "Runnin' Wild," and "It's Tight Like That" - or at least it does in my opinion. "The Lover and the Beggar" and a rendition of "You Rascal You" by Lovin' Sam Theard compare favorably with Jim Towel's and Memphis Joe's previously-discussed vaudevillian material.

1. You Might Pizen Me - Dora Carr
2. Good Woman's Blues - Dora Carr
3. He Don't Mean Me No Harm - Dora Carr
4. Black Girl Gets There Just the Same - Dora Carr
5. Fifth Street Blues - Dora Carr
6. (If You Think You're Gonna Get What I Got) You Got Another Thought Coming to You - Dora Carr
7. Hound Head Blues - Hound Head Henry
8. Freight Train Blues - Hound Head Henry
9. Steamboat Blues - Hound Head Henry
10. Cryin' Blues - Hound Head Henry
11. Laughin' Blues - Hound Head Henry
12. Low Down Hound Blues - Hound Head Henry
13. My Silver Dollar Mama - Hound Head Henry
14. Rooster Crowin' Blues - Hound Head Henry
15. I've Been Hoodooed - Jim Towel
16. Buckwheat Cakes - Jim Towel
17. Plenty Gals Blues - Memphis Joe
18. Lighthouse Blues - Southern Blues Singers
19. Runnin' Wild - Southern Blues Singers
20. It's Tight Like That - Southern Blues Singers
21. The Lover and the Beggar - Lovin' Sam Theard
22. You Rascal You - Lovin' Sam Theard

DAVENPORT'S WORLD WAR I DRAFT REGISTRATION CARD (COURTESY OF
THE EXCELLENT MONROVIA SOUND STUDIO SITE - CLICK TO ENARGE)

Barefoot Jerry - Barefoot Jerry's Grocery (Monument, 1976)

2011-06-04T18:20:00.002-05:00

Ask people to name their favorite Southern Rock group from the 1970s, and you might get get answers like the Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, or maybe even Black Oak Arkansas. Inquire as to whether they are familiar with Barefoot Jerry, and you're likely to get a response such as "Who?" As with other bands that have utilized a personal name for their collective identity, the uninitiated sometimes think Barefoot Jerry is an actual person. Such a misperception shouldn't necessarily be held against them since the lack of any hit singles rendered this aggregation fairly obscure in spite of their relatively prolific recorded output.

PUBLICITY PHOTO (L TO R): MAC GAYDEN, WAYNE
MOSS, JOHN HARRIS & KENNY BUTTREY

Barefoot Jerry emerged from the ashes of Area Code 615, a supergroup of sorts that was comprised of veteran Nashville studio musicians including Wayne Moss and Mac Gayden (multi-instrumentalists who were primarily guitarists) as well as drummer Kenny Buttrey among many others. In addition to providing instrumental support for established country artists at recording sessions throughout the 1960s, various members of the aforementioned triumvirate expanded their horizons by working with performers who operated outside of the Music City system, most notably Bob Dylan and Mike Nesmith. Area Code 615 was an ahead-of-its time country rock group that lasted only long enough to make two LPs. Barefoot Jerry came into existence when Moss, Gayden, and Buttrey parted ways with other members of that first outfit and recruited keyboardist John Harris to complete the lineup for their new project, which began to take shape while they woodshedded in a remote area of the Great Smoky Mountains in eastern Tennessee. As legend has it, they named themselves after the owner of their rented cabin, the fiddle-playing proprietor of a nearby general store. The band proceeded to record six albums between 1971 and 1978 with varying lineups, although Moss was the one constant. He remains very musically active in Nashville to this day and has essentially adopted the name of Barefoot Jerry as his performing alter ego. Barefoot Jerry's Grocery, a two-fer set released by Monument in 1976, repackages their first two and best records, Southern Delight (originally issued by Capitol in 1971) and their eponymous second album (originally issued by Warner Brothers in 1972).

ORIGINAL ALBUM COVERS FOR SOUTHERN DELIGHT & BAREFOOT JERRY

Southern Delight is an absolute tour de force and remains the finest thing that the group ever did. Displaying an astonishing blend of influences - country (duh), rock, psych, progressive, gospel, and soul to name just a few - the material on Barefoot Jerry's debut merges Southern sensibilities with countercultural philosophies, convincingly demonstrating that the two are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, the lyrics of many of the songs focus on tearing down the region's negative stereotypes or touting the positive effects of mind-altering drugs - and sometimes both (e.g. "Proud to be a redneck from the sticks. We don't have to be so doggone mean. Just grow a batch of Tennessee green, then we'll be just good ole country hicks."). Moss often assumes bass-playing duties on their initial effort, making Gayden's breathtaking fretwork the instrumental center attraction, especially when he's utilizing his signature slide wah-wah technique. Buttrey's drumming is about as rock-solid as you can get, while Harris's keyboard work provides nicely complementary background textures. "Hospitality Song" (featuring memorable lines such as "Light up the pipe, pass it around. Take off your boots, we're just a-pickin' around. We don't care what state you come from, we don't care what state your mind is in.") sets the tone for this extraordinary LP and covers an amazing amount of musical territory in just under five minutes. "I'm Proud to Be a Redneck" and "Smokies" serve as eloquent statements of regional pride, with the ingeniously-titled "Quit While You're a Head" providing listeners with a warning about the dangers of taking too much LSD ("The fields are full of vegetables who took their trippin' just a bit too far."). "Blood Is Not the Answer" and the mostly-instrumental "That's OK, He'll Be Your Brother Someday" express themes of peace and human fellowship that are the very antithesis of the Ku Klux Klan mentality that too many people associate with all Southern white people. "Haunting," "ethereal," "epic," and "spiritual" are the best words I can come up with to describe respectively "Come to Me Tonight," "Finishing Touches," "The Minstrel Is Free at Last," and the brief interpretation of the gospel standard "Nobody Knows." To reiterate, Southern Delight is an absolutely incredible listening experience and an artistic statement that was never again to be repeated.

Gayden and Buttrey left the band before the recording sessions for the followup and were replaced with guitarist Russ Hicks and drummer Kenny Malone. While good in its own right, Barefoot Jerry still comes off as decidedly inferior compared to its predecessor. Gayden is especially conspicuous by his absence, and the listener quickly realizes how integral his contributions were to the unparalleled sound captured on Southern Delight. While his departure allows Moss a greater opportunity to highlight his own considerable guitar chops, it also means that Harris's dated-sounding synths are brought too much to the fore on awkwardly proggish tracks like "Castle Rock" and "Ebenezer." "One Woman," an ode to the ideal Southern female, thankfully returns the band to a more organic, country-derived sound. The lyrics of the musically similar "In God We Trust" take the white settlers-conquerors of North America and their hypocritical brand of Christianity to task for their religious rationalizations that served to justify their treatment of the continent's natives and the overexploitation of its natural resources. The message in the clever "Message" is that the song contains no message at all: "And it ain't for your mind that we are playing. It's just music for the body and the soul." On the atmospheric "Friends" and the traditional "Little Maggie," Barefoot Jerry manages to strike a perfect balance in the utilization of Harris's electronic keyboards, which nicely enhance the performances instead of overwhelming them. The Hank Garland-like "Snuff Queen" and the twangy "Fish 'N Tits" are brief instrumentals that respectively allow Hicks and Moss to indulge in a bit of guitar flash, while the mellow "Warm" and the soothing "Ain't It Nice in Here" feature surprisingly effective acoustic-guitar-and-synthesizer arrangements and are about as good as progressive country rock gets.

Southern Delight (1971)
1. Hospitality Song
2. I'm Proud to Be a Redneck
3. Smokies
4. Quit While You're a Head
5. Blood Is Not the Answer
6. Come to Me Tonight
7. Finishing Touches
8. The Minstrel Is Free at Last
9. Nobody Knows
10. That's OK, He'll Be Your Brother Someday

Barefoot Jerry (1972)
11. Castle Rock
12. One Woman
13. In God We Trust
14. Message
15. Friends
16. Snuff Queen
17. Little Maggie
18. Warm
19. Fish 'N Tits
20. Ain't It Nice in Here
21. Ebenezer

Leon's Creation - This Is the Beginning (Studio 10, 1969)

2011-05-29T23:59:00.002-05:00

Some other music blogs have already helped give wider exposure to this superlative late 1960s San Francisco soul-funk album. Previous reviewers have correctly noted the similarities between Leon's Creation and fellow multi-racial, mixed-gender Bay Area outfit Sly and the Family Stone, but I think that anything the two groups had in common was more likely due to parallel development instead of outright mimicry. There doesn't seem to be a lot of information out there about this band, despite their releasing two other LPs as well as leader Leon Patillo's subsequent stint as Santana's vocalist in the mid 1970s and present gig as a contemporary Christian musician.

The participating musicians on what is apparently Leon's Creation's first record include Patillo on keyboards, Neal (last name unknown) on guitar, Billy Gerst on trumpet, Dennis (last name unknown) on saxophone, Carol Stallings on violin, Jimmy Calhoun on bass, and Joe (last name unknown) on drums. The group's resemblance to the aforementioned Sly and the Family Stone becomes immediately apparent at the beginning of the first track, although Stallings's violin work adds a distinctive element to the ensemble's sound throughout and the lyrics of all eight songs generally avoid the forceful sloganeering that often characterizes Sylvester Stewart's best-known compositions. Given Patillo's religious beliefs, I now can't help but wonder if some of these tunes might have a deeper spiritual meaning. And what's with the crucifix standing in for the letter "t" in the word "Creation" on the album cover? Well, even if any of these performances are Christian-themed, the message is never delivered in a heavy-handed fashion.

I won't hesitate to describe This Is the Beginning as a small masterpiece, even if the sound of Leon's Creation comes off as somewhat derivative at times. Every song is a winner, and I truly mean that. Jimmy Calhoun's nimble bass playing is the best of many highlights on the title track, while Carol Stallings's undeniably soulful vocals perfectly complement the laid-back grooves featured in "Until You Were Gone." The six-and-a-half-minute "Mirage" furnishes ample opportunities for everyone to show off their chops, with the mysterious guitarist Neal arguably providing the most exquisite contributions. The swaggering "Back Roads" and the equally vivacious "Confusion" might be this LP's most Sly-like performances but are so flawlessly executed that they deserve praise in their own right. "If I Had the Power" could possibly be a religious song but still has arrangements that are easy to get down to if you prefer dancing over spiritual reflection. The drummer lays down unerring rhythms all through This Is the Beginning, but it's on "Love" and "Sightless" (OK, this one has some pretty Sly-like moves as well) that his percussive talents shine most brightly.

1. This Is the Beginning
2. Until You Were Gone
3. Mirage
4. Back Roads
5. Confusion
6. If I Had the Power
7. Love
8. Sightless