James Carr - The Best of

 I can only imagine that I learned of James Carr from the It Came From Memphis book as I was not familiar even with his hits, which mostly charted on the Soul charts rather than the Pop charts. But this collection shows a man with a powerful voice, full of soul'n'passion who breathed life into some pretty damn fine songs. "These Arms of Mine" is highly reminiscent of Otis Redding's version, and there was some competition and even some songwriting sharing between the two. It's possible that Otis' Stax hits overshadowed James' chances, since they do sound a bit alike, but most likely his lack of Pop chart hits was due to his label lacking the promotional funds. In any case, fans of Redding-styled soul with certainly appreciate this fine selection of tunes, as well!

(Thank you, Milena, for the Xmas gift!)

RIP Dawn Wells

‘Gilligan’s Island’ star Dawn Wells, who played Mary Ann, dies of COVID at age 82 

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Sad - you weren't a boy in the 60's if you didn't have a crush on Mary Ann!

The Best of the Box Tops

 Alex Chilton is now (deservedly) a legend, but back in 1967 he was a 16 year old white kid with an amazingly soulful voice who hit big in the Box Tops with their great tune, "The Letter". Following that hit with the equally amazing "Cry Like a Baby" and then "Soul Deep", they managed to be a three-hit-wonder with some fine album tracks mixed with some material that was simply so-so. The collections puts all of this in one place that gives a pretty sweet listening experience overall.

While the hits are truly the best of this collection, and there are some pretty lightweight numbers, some that became pop hits like "Sweet Cream Ladies" and "Neon Rainbow". There's also some hidden gems like Chilton's blues tune, "I Must Be the Devil", their cover of Dylan's "I Shall Be Released", the appropriate gospel of "I Met Her in Church" and the swing of "You Keep Tightening Up on Me".

Not super consistent, but when they are on, they are absolutely great and even the throwaways are all worthwhile. Some top notch blue eyed soul!

Stereophonic 61 Classics From the Cramps Crazy Collection

This whacked-out series continues to amaze, with a freaky selection of truly twisted numbers, with plenty of novelty songs mixed with surf, rockabilly, doo-wop, garage and various permutations of all of the above.

The set opens with the oddly named "Cast Iron Arm" before moving onto Ray Harris' "Come On Little Mama", which the Cramps covered/stole, more rockabilly with "That Crazy Little House on the Hill", not one but two oddballs both named "Tiger", some fab instros, rockin' novelty numbers, Andre Williams looking to get someone to "Pass the Biscuits Please", some jokey - and serious - C&W, the 50's warning song, "Chickie Run", a raucous take on "Froggy Went A'Courtin'", the demented "Slide Her Under the Door", the FLamingos' truly lovely "Only Have Eyes For You" coupled with other doo-wop classics, more hoppin' rockabilly in "I Got the Bug", hip, sultry swing in "Midnight Stroll", Johnny Burnette's rockingly lascivious "Eager Beaver Baby", Edwin Bruce's "Sweet Woman", another tune Lux and Ivy "borrowed from, and Bill Ward doing a maniacal take on Jan and Dean's "Jennie Lee".

By Disc 2, there goofy semi-instros like "Jungle" next to the surfy "The Vulture", "Thunder", and even the Ventures "Ya Ya Wobble" (is that where Jah Wobble got his name?!) to pure doo-wop like the Fleetwoods acappella "Unchained Melody" and "Nite Owl"by the Champs, as well as "Imagination" by the Quotations, to rarities like the Clovers "Rotten Cocksuckers Ball" (truly phenomenal!), more Andre Williams, road-ravin' rockabilly like Ronnie Dawson's "Action Packed" and the Storey Sisters' "Bad Motorcycle", Ric Cartey's rollickin' take on "My Babe", Betty McQuade's Wanda Jackson-ish "Tongue Tied", exotica from Les Baxter and Arthur Lyman and even the Legendary Stardust Cowboy's unhinged "Paralyzed", mixed in with untold others.

More nutty-as-a-fruitcake- fun! Dig it!

Magnificent - 62 Classics from the Cramps Insane Collection

 I'm not sure who is doing this series or where they are getting the records from, but I certainly hope that Ivy is getting her percentage from these cats using their name! In any case, these double CD sets are always a fun time and this is no exception.

With cuts ranging from straight rockabilly to country to wacky novelty numbers to doo wop to surf and many that are truly indescribable, you not likely to ever be bored here! On this set there's cuts from greats like Bo Diddley, Larry Collins, Wanda Jackson, Johnny Burnette and HIs Trio, Duane Eddy, Andre Williams and Charlies Feathers and goofiness like "The Blob", "The Purple People Eater" and "Everybody Outta the Pool" and even a Spike Jones number, alongside cuts that the Cramps covered like Ronnie Dawson's "Rockin' Bones", Lonnie Johnson's sweet city blues in "Tomorrow Night", horror-themed tunes, dance numbers, surf instros and a ridiculous amount of others!

Don't come expecting any one thing, these comps are a wild mix of all kinds of musical insanity - just like the Cramps were! 

Classic Blues Artwork From the 1920's - Calendar and

 

We've been buying this series for years now and it never lets us down. The calendar is compiled from amazing images of ads from/for the blues records included on the CD and each day notes the birth or death of important men and women of the blues. The CD is always an extraordinary selection of blues classics - in this case from the likes of Sonny Boy Williamson, Leadbelly, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Boy Fuller, Victoria Spivey and more - and rarities - this time consisting of eleven tracks by Lost John Hunter, who was supposedly the first African-American bluesman to record at Sun Studios. How Blues Images managed to find the entire recorded output - that had been unreleased - is anyone's guess, but they do have their feelers reaching out all over the world.

Always worth the cash - get it daddio!

Graham Nash - Wild Tales, A Rock & Roll Life

 

Graham Nash is, of course, one the the founding member of the Hollies and Crosby, Stills and Nash, as well as a prolific and creative solo performer. This autobiography takes us from his incredibly humble beginnings in a British ghetto to super-stardom and beyond.

The book opens with Nash at a crossroads - on his way to LA with plans to leave the Hollies, his wife and his country, all of which he does as he falls in love with Joni Mitchell, and starts works with David Crosby and Steven Stills - all over one weekend! But long before all of that, we get a picture of his youth as a poor Northern Brit with next to no luxuries and not many necessities. But at six years old he meets Allan Clarke, who he will later form the Hollies with, and they immediately start making music together - initially simply singing, then playing skiffle and eventually, harmonies-based rock'n'roll with duets like the Everly Brothers and the Louvin Brothers as influences.

I always say that I love reading about those who grew up during the start of r'n'r in the 50's and became part of the movement in the 60's - the times were exciting beyond words and the music made was truly magic. The music scene was exploding and there were places to play everywhere for upcoming groups - especially if they were any good and supposedly, Graham and Allan's new project was. I never really thought about where they got their name, but a new line up needed a title for a gig and they were almost the Deadbeats - hardly indicative of their sound - before they decided to dedicate themselves to one of their favorite singers, Buddy Holly!

After an incredible string of hits, Graham got bored with the teenybopper scene (although the fame, fortune and women must have been nice - not to mention the general respect from other musicians) and he wanted to get more experimental. He had been expanding his mind with drugs, something the other Hollies did not participate in, generally, and wanted to do more. He became friends with David Crosby, who had by then split with the Byrds and through him, Steven Stills, who had also left Buffalo Springfield and the rest is musical history.

I wasn't sure of the entire chronology, but Neil Young joined immediately after the CSN record was completed and they did their first two live shows with Neil - the second being at Woodstock! Work on Deja Vu began right away, as well, with a copious amount of cocaine screwing with their heads, despite making another fabulous record. They played some shows, but took a break to clear their heads pretty much as soon as they were finished with the album. As it tends to do, the drugs'n'excess took their toll and while the group never officially broke up and they did some extravagant shows/tours, it was difficult for them to really work together. 

The excesses become fairly grotesque, especially Crosby's free-basing, and they all move in different directions although they always end up back together - sometimes strictly for the music, sometimes simply for financial reasons. But Nash, ever the hippie with his heart in the right place, is integral in setting up and playing innumerable benefits and branches out into other artistic endeavours, particularly his early love for photography, but also music and painting and, of course, his family.

The man truly does seem like a good person - despite wallowing in an over-the-top rock stardom - and he tells his story well. While he's not my fave musician, he has been involved in so much of the music that I grew up with and he has written some terrific tunes. Truly enjoyable and recommended for anyone who loves this style of music.

RIP Leslie West

MOUNTAIN LEGEND LESLIE WEST DEAD AT 75

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Sad to hear - Mountain was definitely an influential group that I still listen to regularly.

Charles Bukowski - Slouching Towards Nirvana

 

Yes, I know it's kinda ridiculous how many Bukowski books I have at this point, but I like his style and there are a helluva lot of them out these days. This is another posthumous release published by his long time editor John Martin at the behest of Buk's widow Linda. Once again, the poems here are generally later works that reminisce about his younger days while also reflecting on his then-current success. He is confident in his writings and while they generally remain reasonably strong, I have to say that this one is not one of his best collections. Nothing bad here - I generally enjoy pretty much everything that I have seen of his - but just not as wild and, yes, poetic, as some of his previous works. Fans will certainly want to round out their collections, but for those starting on Buk, this is probably not the one to go with.

Ugly Things #55

 

Of course you know what you're gonna get with Ugly Things - tales of "wild sounds from past dimensions"! In this ish there's a huge exploration of Seatlle's Magic Fern, an excellent interview with Cheap Trick's Ben E Carlos detailing the band's history with plenty of hip, old pix, Cyril Jordan gives an overview of the Bay Area's garage bands that went on to greatness (Paul Whaley in Blue Cheer, Greg Rolie to Santana, etc.), there's a fascinating tale of photographer Eric Hayes, who captured some of the greats of the 60's just by being in the right place at the right time, an informative tale of the record Brian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan at Joujouka, an interview with Swedish 80's garage rock'n'rollers, the Crimson Shadows, a lengthy dissertation on the author of the pulp novel The Velvet Underground, which the band got its name from, a bit of Porter Wagoner, a tale of Carlos Santana's early band and so much more it's kinda crazy! Of course, reviews galore, as well, with lots of great media releases that you should own!

It's Ugly Things - of course you should get it and read from front to back! Dig it!

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Neal Cassady - The First Third

 I'm certain that I've read some of Cassady's writings here'n'there, but don't believe that I've ever read an entire book by him. This is an autobiography of his early years - "the first third" of his life - and he has a bit of a Kerouac-ian, spirited, freeform, breathless rant (possibly Kerouac got that from the fast-talking Cassady?) that gives us plenty of flavor and details of his youth in Denver. With an alcoholic father, a poor mother, and abusive half-brothers, he spends plenty of time on the street, sometimes with his homeless father and sometimes just exploring as far as his feet and his energy would take him. 

While he does his best to keep his story relatively chronological, he can't stop himself from going on innumerable tangents which revolve back'n'forth in time in a fairly convoluted way, which means that you have to really be paying attention in order to keep up with the man. These sidesteps can be quite entertaining but you/I tend to lose track of the original tale in the process.

There is a sudden jump from pre-teen to late teenager/early twenties, where he is dealing with different relationships but these overlap, as well, and are too many to keep track of. There's also a separate chapter that Allen Ginsberg dictated by hand while Neal explained the plot of a story that he wanted to write, which he told in his own tangled way while cleaning a batch of marijuana!

Towards the end, this collection of writings - as opposed to an actual biography, and there is a subtitle on the back "...and other writings" - compiles letters to the likes of Kerouac, Ken Kesey and others, which are written in the same wildly ravin' style.

In person, he must've been way too manic for a lot of people to handle, but his writing does captivate you. A helluva tale from a true original!

Spinning Off Bukowski - Steve Richmond

 

I am very purposefully going out as little as possible these days but made the trek out to a local bookstore that was sadly closing its doors and selling off their stock. I had never heard of this book but, being a Buk acolyte, I thought I'd see what this was about.

Richmond was an aspiring poet in the mid-60's who had self published his own debut book when he first met Bukowski. They became friends/drinking buddies and spent a fair amount of time together at each other's pads.While being a huge Buk fanatic, Richmond does not try to emulate his style, but his story telling is oddly detailed to the point of minutia in an unnecessary and almost annoying way - very different from Buk's use of detail, somehow. The story and the characters are interesting/compelling but there's something about Richmond's style that's a bit off-putting to me for some reason. Maybe he's trying too hard, in a way, maybe he's too insecure, maybe it's a bit of homophobia, maybe it's his Buk-worship - I can't say for sure, but it doesn't flow for me. I've got to say that I feel that I'm too much of Buk fan, in a way, as well, and I'll admit that a lot of Buk's fave writers tend not to click for me.

In any case, this gives the reader another viewpoint on Bukowski from someone who hung with him and knew many of the characters that Buk would write about. I'm glad that I found this but I have to say that I don't see myself looking out for any other Richmond works.

Charles Bukowski - What Matters Most Is How Well You Walk Through The Fire

 

I first found out about Buk probably close to 40 years ago through a woman I was dating at the time and while he sometimes is a bit foul'n'mean, there's a lot about him that I've related to - his desperation, his circumstances, his trouble with women - and I've always appreciated the way he could put the word on the page in a simple'n'direct, yet clever and, yes, poetic way. He certainly helped me formulate my lyrics, although you might never know that.

Anyway, this is another posthumous collection with works ranging from the years 1970 - 1990 when he lived in the same or similar neighborhoods as I did. Of course, I dig his tales of the old days in Hollywood, his struggles, the streets, the women, the booze, the race track and the words. He reminisces a lot about the past, whatever time that might have been at the time of his writing. The lines are strong, generally, the topics vary wildly, his mind jumping jumping, writing about the things that no one else thinks to write about. It’s best when he runs wild, the topics random, the words powerful - that's where he belongs.

He zeros in on the minuscule details in an offhand way, but with it he can create a scene or flesh out a fantasy. Sometimes it's dull'n'meaningless, sometimes something approaching profound. He might get a bit tired, maudlin or, gawd forbid, a smidge dull now'n'again, but a page later he is back with some true spark. 

No matter how many books of his I own - and I own an embarrassing large number of them - there always seems to be more to discover. I'm looking for more 40 years on, so I guess you could say that I'm a fan. I'm sure that you have your own opinion of him by now, but this is another good one.

Glenn Branca - Songs 77-79

 

I have been explored more no-wave and noize bands lately and somehow - I believe through the research of my lovely wife - I came across this gentlemen and found this CD. I knew the name of the Theoretical Girls but not the Static and this compilation gathers Branca's songs from the singles by both bands as well as some truly twisted home demos and live cuts. The packaging is minimal but has some brief but informative liner notes by Branca.

The Static cuts are fairly minimal'n'pulsating, with DEVO-esque vocal stylings and some nicely jarring guitar squawnk. The Theoretical Girls numbers follow some of the same ethos, natch, but with enough of a different feel to know it's another group. Driving/pounding rhythms, weird time changes, keyboard freakouts, and just general anarchic riffin' makes for some wild listening. The home cassette recordings are truly minimal - just Glenn's wanderin'/waverin'/MX 80 Sound-ian voice and some Shaggs/Half Japanese/Isaac Owens chaos-guitar. There are live cuts that include some squealing sax and abrasive keys backed by ramblin' drums and maniacal tortured guitar work. "TV Song" is, comparatively, almost a normal "rock" song - sorta a mix of Roky Erikson's "Bloody Hammer" and something by DEVO - sorry, his voice really reminds me of Mouthersbaugh! "You" is damn fierce'n'frightening, with a repetitive backing rhythm covered with angular, jagged shards of crashin' guitar chords and the finale, Glazened Idols" has jungle drums covered in anarchic noize and semi-insane, spit-fired, ranted vocals.

Wild'n'primitive, low-fi, no-wave noize - dig it!

Flea - Acid For the Children

 

Although I quite enjoyed seeing the Red Hot Chili Peppers when they started out playing Hollywood clubs that I was playing/hanging out in (and still thought that they were fun the last time I saw them in the 90's), I would never have imagined that they would have gotten as big as they did. Of course, the music was a bit tamed down for the masses, but they were a wild'n'energetic show, especially the the non-stop, whirling dervish psycho on the bass! I would also never have thought to read Flea's biography, but my lovely wife is more open minded than I am and bought this and I have to say, it's pretty damn good.

Flea (born Michael Balzary) is much smarter than I would have suspected (although throughout the book, he does some incredibly, stupendously, unbelievably stupid things, which I think i why I always thought he was kinda intellectually slow) and is actually a good storyteller. With chapters that are no more than a couple of pages he talks of his early years in Australia, moving to New York state and eventually ending up in Los Angeles as a young teen from a broken home, simultaneously a sensitive, bookworm loner and a bit of a fuck-up/asshole. 

He was also all over the place - into books, shoplifting, karate, skating, sports, getting high, running the streets, breaking'n'entering, various death-defying feats and a zillion other things simultaneously. Eventually, through meeting Anthony and Hillel, he learns bass (previously having been into jazz trumpet), learns to appreciate rock music and starts playing the Hollywood clubs and hanging out in the punk rock scene (although that is not what his first band was about). 

I have to give the man major props for putting his money where his mouth is and starting the Silverlake Conservatory of Music in order to help LA kids whose school budgets have been cut so that they don't get the music education that he had. Giving back to the community and to the kids is an amazing feat. (While he is more-or-less chronological in his story telling, he does fast-forward at times with a tangent related to his earlier years, which is why this came up in the middle of the book.)

Although he was certainly bright, he was also one of those wasted f'k-ups that would cause a commotion just for the helluva it throughout the scene and be a general annoyance. Flea's stories inevitably star some drug or another, to the point of being a bit grotesque - although he swears, in a believable way, that he was never an addict, he is constantly using something and it does get to be a bit much and it is fairly incredible that he is still alive today. After endless tales of the highs that he reached he does finally say that he wished he hadn't done as much damage to himself as he did, but he sure sounds like he was having fun at the time!

That said, it is kinda fun to reminisce about some of the old clubs/bars/hang-outs/rehearsal spaces/bands, etc., although I was a bit too uncool for some of the places, due to working a "regular", daytime job and being reasonably sober. I guess it just goes to show that being a druggie bum pays off sometimes! Of course, he does give some insight to his influences - Echo and the Bunnymen was a surprise! - but then he ends this tome just as the Chili Peppers come together for their first, one-song gig. He promises a sequel!

Anyway, it's a fun read and a nice snapshot of LA in the 70's and 80's. Much better than I expected!