The hum of life

There were a bunch of Daisy bands around in the early 90's but this band from Athens was my favorite. They were just called Daisy - no Tripping or Chainsaw here - but they were called The Daisy Group on one 45 cover.

The group released three singles in 1991. The first 45 has two of the group's best songs: "The Hum Of Life" & "Undoing". It's also the most sought after for another reason: Michael Stipe produced it.

David Barbe produced the other two singles. He should have done some editing too, some of the songs go on a few minutes longer than they need to.

A 1993 CD called THE HUM OF DAISY collected those tracks and added a few more songs.

All three records were released on Planned Obsolescence, a label run by a guy named Sean Curry. Which explains the David Barbe connection, Mercyland had some records on Planned Obsolescence too.

No thanks

I believe I've had enough

I was

waitin' on you

Drumsville

Earl Palmer died last Friday. I don't have anything to add to the remembrances and tributes already out there. So here's a few songs from DRUMSVILLE, Palmer's 1961 LP on Liberty Records. The guitar on "What'd I Say" is fantastic but if you're only going to get one song, I highly recommend Earl's version of "Teenbeat".

Here they come

dressed in black

And now we come to the Beatle portion of our show

This is one of the stranger things I've posted.

In 1966, Jan & Dean had already had a long string of hits but they could tell that surf & drag songs were on the way out. In an attempt to expand their horizons, they agreed to do a TV show and even put together an LP of symphonic versions of their hits.

So the duo recorded a comedy LP called JAN & DEAN "LIVE". Their record company didn't laugh. Not only did they not laugh, the chopped up the LP and released it as a straight music LP called FILET OF SOUL. I've never heard it but the word is that the record is not very good.

A few years later, United Artists put out a two LP Jan & Dean anthology. On side 4 is twenty minutes of the original comedy LP from 1966.

It's strange, really strange.

Jan & Dean put the thing together from some live tapes. They manipulate the tape in several places, probably so they can get to the next bit of dialogue that much sooner. There's lot's of sound effects. The Firesign Theatre used the same wolf noises on "Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers." The dogs at 4:45 sound a lot like Brian Wilson's dogs Louie & Banana. Which makes sense, Dean Torrance helped out on a few of the sessions after Wilson stopped touring with the Beach Boys. There's a lot of coughing. Of course, there's a few car crashes thrown in too.

Anyway, it's kinda funny in a few places. It's not something I listen to very often - I can understand why the label was against releasing it. I was a little hesitant to post it here. Did anything else sound like this in 1966?

So much

like escape

Two things

Good news first, I've heard a rumor that Merge Records is going to be reissuing the Volcano Suns records sometime early next year. Yay! I wonder if they'll release just the ones that came out on Homestead or if the SST releases and the one on Quarterstick are coming too?

Next is the sad stuff. R.I.P. Rick Wright. Wright wasn't the member of Pink Floyd that got all the credit or the one that got the cult but he did write a few good songs in the band's early years. I like 'em anyway.

Just listen

to the rain

Delightful little rerun

Delightful Little Nothings were a shoegaze/indiepop band from Benecia CA, in the early 90s. They sounded like Velocity Girl. A lot like Velocity Girl. But Velocity Girl was good so it’s OK. The band compared themselves to Heavenly but said that they sounded like this before they ever heard of Heavenly.

I first heard Delightful Little Nothings on a Mint/Lookout compilation called A SLICE OF LEMON. Their song – “Blah, Blah, Blah” – is one of the better songs on the record. I had seen the band’s 7” – called e.p. – at the record store so I picked it up the next time I was there. The songs are good but sometimes a little too long. As with all shoegaze bands, the music sounds better turned up loud. As far as I know, these are the only recordings Delightful Little Nothings made. I’ve never heard of anything else. The record was released by the Candy Floss label.

Bassist Mike Talbot had played in Monsula and went on to the Zim-Zims after the Delightfuls ended. Paul Curran was also in Monsula and in Crimpshrine.

Slaving

every day

(No more slavery)

Trigger mortis

I bought this Lithium X-Mas EP at Sunburst Records a few years ago. Jay had gotten a CD called HELLDORADO by the band in at the same time but I figured I'd see how they sounded before I bought the CD. I wouldn't feel as badly about not liking a record if I only spent $3.50 on it. As added incentive, the EP has a picture of Barbarella on the cover.

The record itself is pretty good though. Lithium X-Mas is a loud and fuzzy psychedelic guitar band somewhere in between Dinosaur Jr and The Jesus & Mary Chain. The record has a Hawkwind cover, a great version of "My Sweet Lord" (MC 900 Foot Jesus was in the band) and a couple of originals.

So I planned on picking up the CD too. Except Sunburst burned down before I got a chance to get it. Dang! The Slits RETROSPECTIVE, Spiral Jetty, and some Michael Hurley albums are a few of the other not-easy-to-find records that melted before I got around to buying them. Grrrr..

Do not

pass me by

Make it real

compared to what?

Jerry Reed

Jerry Reed, "Wayfaring Stranger"

Jerry Reed, "Another Puff"

Jerry Reed, "Roving Gambler"

Jerry Reed, "Alabama Wild Man"

Her life was saved by rock & roll

Jenny said when she was just five years old
There was nothing happening at all
Every time she puts on a radio
There was nothing going down at all, not at all
Then one fine morning she puts on a New York station
You know, she didn't believe what she heard at all
She started shaking to that fine, fine music
You know her life was saved by rock & roll
Yeah, rock & roll

It took no computations
you could just go out and dance to the rock & roll station
It was all right
Hey baby, you know it was all right

Jenny said when she was just by five years old
You know my parents gonna be the death of us all
Two TV sets and two Cadillac cars
Well, you know it ain't gonna help me at all
Then one fine morning she hears a New York station
She doesn't believe what she hears at all
Ooh, she started dancing to that fine, fine music
You know her life was saved by rock & roll,
Yes, rock & roll

Despite all the amputations
You could just dance to a rock & roll station
And baby it was all right
Hey, it was all right
Hey, here she comes now!

And it was all right.