Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Bonus beats

OK, here's one more thing from an early Eighties 12". This one holds up pretty well - still sounds damn good actually!

Happy new year!

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Interrupting all programs

This may have been the first 12" single that I bought. I don't remember buying any before this one anyway. I did have some promos that (Peter Gabriel, Dalek I) I got from a radio station but I'd never paid for one. I didn't see much sense in spending 3 bucks more for 5 extra inches of vinyl. Nobody had told me about alternate mixes so I figured that the 7" single was the same song as the 12".

I like the dub things on BLACK MARKET CLASH so when "Radio Clash" was released with three alternate mixes, I decided to pay the extra money. It helped that I never saw the 7" in any of the Chattanooga record stores that I went to in 1981.

Unfortunately, the remixes aren't that great. Not 20 minutes worth anyway. The length of both sides could have been cut in half. Which is what I would've gotten if I had bought the 7" version back then.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

I just tell you

Friday, December 26, 2008

Encores

There's been a couple more rerun requests so here's the Method Actors yet again. Somebody really needs to release this stuff again.

Finally here's both songs from the Arms Akimbo 45.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Did you expect that I would believe

the tale you told last Christmas Eve?

Monday, December 22, 2008

Only everything

I can't give you more than what I've got
I can't expect to give what I have not
I can only give ya lovin' 'till the sun goes down
And until the leaves of summer turn to shades of brown
I try and I try
But baby you know that I
Can only give you everything

I can't argue with you to understand
Cause after all, I am just a man
You are on my mind
When stars appear and shadows fall
And when every little flower close
And no birds call
I try and I try
But baby you know that I
Can only give you everything

I can't argue with you to understand
'Cause after all, I am just a man
You are on my mind
When stars appear and shadows fall
And when every little flower close
And no birds call
I try and I try
But baby you know that I
Can only give you everything

Everything, baby
A little bit of this, a little bit of that
And everything.

- Coulter/Scott

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Down here

I've done my best

Friday, December 19, 2008

Sad news

R.I.P. Sean Byrne of the Count Five.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Almost Christmas Time

Here's this year's CD. I think this one is pretty good. I hope you agree - happy holidays!

Other news:
The Public Good sent notice that on December 26, they will be making their first Charlotte NC appearance since 1994. It should be a good show, they're opening for Mitch Easter. Wish I could be there.

In case you don't remember, The Public Good is 3 of the guys that were in long time faves the Popes.

Finally, something I probably should have mentioned a while back. There's yet another Thomas Function 7" out on Alive Records. Only 1000 pressed so you better hurry!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Hard and heavy

As promised, here's Jim C's latest contribution. "Goin' Upstairs" is such a great song, thanks for letting me hear it again::

I was in school at East Texas State University in the fall of ‘81, and over Thanksgiving I was sitting around spinning records with my friend Dimitrius. He played upright bass and, like me, was learning his way through jazz, so he seemed a little baffled by the Elvis vinyl that I kept putting on the stereo. He asked me why I got so much sustenance from old rock ‘n’ roll when I was also into jazz, and I could only shrug and say stuff like “it’s all the same thing”, which I’m sure answered nothing, but I wasn’t sophisticated enough to come up with anything better. As the conversation rolled on, he said “Well, then you might know who my dad is”, and I said, “Why, who is he?”

His dad was Domingo Samudio, aka Sam “The Sham”, of Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs. Dimitrius had been raised by his mom, but stayed in contact with his dad, who had seen his share of adventure even leaving out the fact that he was a drop-dead cool rock ‘n’ roll star from the mid ‘60s. I was unaware of his post-Pharaohs output, and Dimitrius went to his place and brought back an album his dad had cut in 1970 for Atlantic records, called Hard And Heavy. It was produced by Atlantic’s great engineer/producer Tom Dowd, and the Dixie Flyers are the rhythm section, with Duane Allman, the Memphis Horns and the Sweet Inspirations all helping out as well. I was impressed. Cut at Criteria Sound in Miami, this was around the same time Dowd and Allman would have been working on Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs, and while this album shares some superficial characteristics with that album-rock classic, it also seems to come from another planet entirely, one where you wouldn’t be required to check your sense of humor at the door. There are several terrific blues covers here, and the obligatory-at-the-time Randy Newman cover (also first-rate), but the best songs are Sam’s four originals, which show off his Tex-Mex roots (and his wit) at least as well as his Pharaohs hits did. His liner notes on the back cover thank almost everyone he’d ever met and have a manic edge, like he must have known this was his last shot at the commercial big-time and he wanted to make it count. It worked, sort of; he won his only Grammy in 1972 -- for best liner notes!

When I asked Dimitrius what his dad was up to currently, he said he had been working on the soundtrack for a new Jack Nicholson movie that was coming out soon. That movie turned out to be The Border, a great film with one of Ry Cooder’s earlier soundtrack efforts, on which Samudio plays organ. Dixie Flyer Jim Dickinson resurfaces here too, playing piano throughout and even singing lead on one track, but the best tunes are the two Sam sings and the one Freddy Fender sings. This to me is Cooder’s best soundtrack ever.

I always hoped I’d get to meet Dimitrius’ dad, but every time he came to Commerce, Texas, it was when I happened to be out of town. I haven’t seen Demetrius in about a quarter of a century, so if you’re out there Dimitrius, hey man!

Monday, December 15, 2008

Song of the Cove Creek Dam

Another request for a rerun:

“"He never did have worldly goods, because if they'd of had it, and seen someone else needed it, that's where it would have gone. He'd give a person the shirt on his back if they needed it worse that he did," said his daughter-in-law Anna Burnett, of Sharp's Chapel. Ruble Cleatus Burnett was 37 years old in 1935 when he wrote the "Song of the Cove Creek Dam." He had just purchased 50 acres of land, after having apparently rented it for some years, when the TVA land appraisers looked it over. He supported his wife and three children, his older brother, and mother in a three room house by the sale of chickens, eggs and a tobacco crop. His income in 1933 was $180, and his expenses on the farm just $30.75. He fed the family with two milk cows, two hogs, 50 chickens and 17 ducks, by TVA's count. The TVA interviewer also noted: "House is a small boxed one, and is equipped with very little furniture," indicating no car, radio, piano, phonograph, sewing machine, floor covering, or dining or living room furniture in the home. The interviewer considered Burnett "suspicious," and noted, "He said the T.V.A. was a bad thing for the people of this section," and, optimistically, "his conversation leeds altogether along the line that he believes the government will jip him But began to gather a different idea before I left him [sic]."

“"I believe what hurt him most was moving the graves," says Aundra Ditmore of Maryville, Burnett's daughter. He was hurt by the removal of his infant daughter, who died from meningitis, and his father's remains to a new cemetery, and he grieved for the families whom he felt would not be able to recover their loved ones in poorly marked or unmarked graves.

TVA may have left the graves underwater at the family's request.

“As it turned out, Burnett did not have to move his family's home. TVA leased a right of way from him, but did not force him to a new location. For a couple of years he owned a guitar, and, rarely, sang for friends and neighbors. His son, Milus, remembers hearing him sing the Cove Creek Dam song only three or four times, but learned a number of the verses himself.

“Norris Dam continued to affect his life. His daughter, Bonnie Sanford, remembered, "Someone asked Dad, 'what good are the C.C. boys?' He said, 'For son-in-laws.'" Both daughters married C.C.C. members from the nearby camp. He finally got electricity, around 1950, 14 years after the promise of it. He fished in Norris Lake occasionally, but more often scouted the banks for fishing tackle abandoned in the brush, which could be reused or resold.” -- http://www.state.tn.us/environment/tn_consv/archive/songs.htm

Since Dr. Kirkland was unable to locate Cleatus Burnett, the song was by a Knoxville high school student named Eugene Wallace.

------

Check back in a couple days. Up next is a great post from old pal Jim C. And there's more Christmas music after that.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

He heard

Friday, December 12, 2008

Sad news

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R.I.P. Bettie Page

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Silent night rumble

Christmas is almost here but I'm not in a holiday mood yet. Maybe some Christmas music will help. Here's a CD I made a few years ago. Happy Holidays! Hope you enjoy it and maybe I'll get festive soon.

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Kisses and hugs

If you like Half Japanese, you’ll like XXOO. And if you can't stand 1/2 Jap, you're not gonna like this either.

All four members of XXOO played in Half Japanese. For years, I though it was a Half Japanese record called XXOO. It didn't help that in 1990, Half Japanese DID release a 7" called XXOO. I've never seen that one.

XXOO appears to have been a project to highlight the romantic side of Half Japanese. There are no monster songs anyway. All three songs are love songs (sort of) and the band’s name is kisses and hugs.

The first song is a Jad Fair original. "That's What They Say" is a Buddy Holly cover. The third song was not listed on the record cover. I don’t know if it was a hidden bonus track or a last minute addition.

As far as I know, none of these songs have never been re-issued or available anywhere else.

Sunday, December 07, 2008

I will meet you in the morning

just inside the Eastern Gate

Friday, December 05, 2008

Something to celebrate

Prohibition was repealed 75 years ago today. So belly up to your favorite bar and celebrate freedom! Cheers!

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

We sell soul

Now listen baby

If you're ever feeling down
If you're ever feeling low
You know who to call on
you know where to go

You know baby
you can come to us
That's right baby
you can come to us

cause we sell soul
yeah we sell soul

Now listen baby

gonna make you scream
gonna make you scream

are you ready?

Do you feel it?
Does it make you feel alright?

You make me feel so good

Do you feel it?

- Roky Erickson

Monday, December 01, 2008

The way you do the shingaling

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