Neverland Ranch Davidians - Shout It On the Mountain

 

I really enjoyed NRD's debut and loved their live show so was grateful to get this CD/LP from Heavy Medication Records due to my lovely wife's terrific photo of Tex gracing the cover!

This trio (2 guitars/drums) has a fantastic, swampy, soulful sound, with some added bass for the recordings and some incredible, choir-like backing vocals on several of the tunes. Cleverly arranged, rockin' covers of "Big Bird", "Orphan Boy" and "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" feel right at home mixed in with their extraordinary originals, particularly the harrowing "I Think I'm Positive" which somehow mixes punk rock, Suicide and Jimi Hendrix for a crazed musical ride.

They blast out of the gate with a bit of sorta disjointed, Jon Spencer-ish punk-blues with the mildly disgusting "Swamp Feet" that settles into a cool, heavy groove with some of the extraordinary backing vocals that I mentioned earlier - nice breakdown, too! The aforementioned "Big Bird" has the NRD's touch but retains the cool, original soulful feel. "The Gripper" isn't quite as special, although I dig the spelling bit towards the end, but they're back in the groove for "Signified Monkey" and "Shout It On The Mountain" ("you're preaching to the choir") is a swampy gospel-blues with great slide guitar. "Citizen Monkey" is punk rock-blues, with more cool slide on top of the high energy rhythm while "Cactus Cooler" is an ode to the soft drink, apparently used by some as a mixer, and it has a hip, start'n'stop, stompin' beat laden with cool, bluesy licks and harmony backing vocals. "Don't Call Me" has a groove that reminds me of Cream's "Badge" - never a bad thing - but with plenty of NRD's added intricacies - fine songwriting! Cow-punk-blues-slidework dominates the instrumental "Death Penalty in Texas" - reminds me a bit of Blood on the Saddle, who I loved. 

Although so many of the tunes are excellent, the standout for me is "I Think I'm Positive" where they build on a soulful backing with until the intensity reaches a Suicide-like crescendo and the guitars go wild with feedback and insane riffs. After that crazed ride, most anything would be a bit anticlimatic, and while their cover of the obscure garage-rock number "Orphan Boy" (by Half Pint and the Fifths) fits in with the NRD's feel, I don't think it stands up to their originals. "Happy" (not the Stones' number) is a trashed out garage-blues with some excellent guitarwork and they close out with an original, swamp-trash-blues take of Skip James' "Hard Time Killing Floor".

I've known Tex since his days in the Hangmen and he never disappoints! Great record and great playing by the whole band. Absolutely recommended!

recommended gigs

  

Friday 5-16-25 - Volume (featuring Derek, ex-of the fabulous B-Movie Rats), Sonolith, Psalm at the Dive Bar

Saturday 5-17-25 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Sunday 5-18-25 - Thee Swank Bastards at Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch

Monday 5-19-25 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Thursday 5-22-25 - The Shakewells with Ch3 and the English Beat at the Citrus Grand Pool Deck at the Downtown Grand

Saturday 5-24-25 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Sunday 5-25-25 - Generic Surf Band at Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch

Sunday 5-25-25 - New Bomb Turks, The Baboon Show, Civic, Cromm Fallon and the P200 at the Usual Place

Monday 5-26-25 - The Briefs, Cromm Fallon and the P200 at the Citrus Grand Pool Deck

Monday 5-26-25 - the Dogs, Talking Bombs, Gob Patrol and Soldiers of Destruction at Red Dwarf

Monday 5-26-25 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Tuesday 5-27-25 - Detroit Cobras, Pure Sport, the Implosions at Grey Witch's grand opening

Friday 5-30-25 - the Double Whammys at the Golden Tiki

Saturday 5-31-25 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Monday 6-2-25 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Saturday 6-14-25 - the Implosions, the Hideaway and and the Holy Smokes at Red Dwarf

Friday 7-11-25 - the Dwarves, Left Right Left, Phantom Ad and Sector 7G at the Dive Bar

Saturday 8-23-25 - Rev Beat Man at the Usual Place with the Crotches and Rhythm Ace and the Nu-Tones

Young Neil, the Sugar Mountain Years - Sharry Wilson

 

This one was just a random library find - I was just looking for something to peruse on my phone and since I couldn't think of anything else, I knew they had some books on Neil, although I had never seen this one from 2014 before. Obviously, from the title, Wilson is concentrating on Young's younger years.

Growing up in Canada with an older brother and parents whose marriage was rocky pretty much from the start, but kept trying to make it work, the family traveled a lot, which Neil credits for her wanderlust. They would spend months at a time in Florida and moved the family home numerous times, besides taking various, shorter trips. Considering that for a number of years Neil's father, Scott, was a freelance writer that didn't sell much, the amount of traveling that they do is mighty impressive - far, far, far more than my (middle class) family, for instance, was able to do.

Neil is described as shy, preferring one-on-one interactions to crowds, but was fun and mischievous, as well. He seemed to make friends wherever the family landed and was also enterprising - raising chickens for their eggs in one location, as well as the more typical paper route duties, along with picking up work at the local golf courses. Neil is yet another rock'n'roll golfer - something that will never fail to astound me! But he also got caught up in early rock'n'roll and learned basic chords on a ukulele so that he could play popular folk songs from the tme, as well.

He obviously does start playing in bands as a teenager and gets some independence when his folks split up and he stays with his mom. His dad was a well known sports writer and his mom was a TV game show celebrity, both of which gave Neil some cachet and his mom's activities gave him more freedom.

Teenage bands come'n'go and members are exchanged frequently but Neil works hard - on the business end as well as the musical side - and he does hundreds of gigs - fairly amazing for teens! I like that Wilson explains the type of guitars that the various members play, highlighting the 60's phenomenon of gigging with guitars from Sears and homemade amps and the like.

As the bands evolved, they also improved, as did the equipment and Neil got a Gretsch hollow body in emulation of local guitar hero Randy Bachman, who received a lot of respect and attention here, as does other future Guess Who member Burton Cummins. Neil's songwriting skills emerge as a high schooler and two of his songs make it onto his first single with his band the Squires - he even breaks out one of them 50 years later while on tour.

As a personal aside, I appreciate that Neil was not sports-minded (nor had any aptitude for them) at all and pretty much just cared for music - although cars were another life-long obsession. He also veered from his love of rock'n'roll to folk - something that he obviously has carried with him throughout his entire career.

After various versions of the Squires and a bit of folk-singing in the area, Neil decides to pick up and move to LA, bringing Bruce Palmer along for the trip which starts the formation of the Buffalo Springfield and the end of Wilson's tale.

I quite enjoyed this one, but then I'm a big fan of Young's and I love hearing about garage bands in the 60's (and I wish I had started a little earlier and studied my craft a little more, but such is life). Fans will certainly want to check this out.

Me and Mr. Jones - Suzi Ronson

 

Suzi was, of course, Mick Ronson's wife, but she started her association as hair dresser and stylist to David and Angie Bowie. In this 2024 book she gives a very brief introduction to her younger years and then moves swiftly to her time as a hairdresser who meets Mrs. Jones (David's mother) and then in short succession, Angie and finally David, who she turns from a long haired hippie folk singer to Ziggy Stardust!

Suzi is an engaging writer and she keeps the story flowing as she moves from being a pretty sheltered, straight-laced girl to a woman of the world, styling Bowie (who she has a one night stand with once she had been hired), Lou Reed (who she only knew from Bowie's cover versions), Iggy and more. (She's not afraid to admit that she doesn't know incredibly famous people as their orbits cross, although she knows enough to know when they are famous. Funnily, she mentions some people who are NOT famous as if we should know who they are!) As she officially becomes part of the crew - styling and helping with David's costume changes during the shows - she joins at the height of the band's success.  Most of the shows are sold out and elaborate and she is part of the first American tour. Their extravagance is mind-boggling and living the life of rock stars is her first experience of the US. She is surprisingly unfamiliar with the music of the time - she had never heard Mott the Hoople before her tour group went to a show - but does appreciate what she is exposes to. It's a thrilling world and she often can't believe that she is part of it all.

There are some kind of funny bits as she is surprised that the likes of MTH and the Stooges don't want the stylist touches that she gives Dave and the Spiders - in her innocence it seems like she assumes that all rock'n'rollers are as highly image conscious as David and Angie and is almost hurt when they are not.

Suzi and Ronno don't get together until after the breakup of the Spiders and actually after the recording of Pin Ups, so, truly at the end of Mick's regular association with David. Suzi really had become part of the inner circle seeing as she was invited to situations like these that no one else in the crew attended - which turned into good luck for her and Ronno!

There's a million stories and, of course, the Spiders break up, Mick tries a short-lived solo career and an even shorter stint in Mott, works with Ian solo and then tours with Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue. According to Suzi, Mick gets involved after, just by happenstance, he jams with Dylan's backing band at the Bitter End in NYC - I had never heard that story before and it always seemed unusual that Mick was asked to join them. 

After the Rolling Thunder tour there, surprisingly, aren't many big prospects - some projects, but nothing major - and after their marriage and the birth of their daughter, the book ends rather abruptly in 1977, well before Mick's untimely demise. It feels like Suzi might be planning a sequel, unless she simply wanted to concentrate on the Bowie (and related) years.

In any case, it's a fine book, an easy, quick, and enjoyable read - recommended for Bowie fans, for sure, but also it's a good encapsulation of the times.

Traveling Soul - The Life of Curtis Mayfield - Todd Mayfield

 

Curtis Mayfield is another 60's icon that I've been a fan of ever since I knew who he was - I know I dug the Impressions' work, although I didn't know any of the members' names, but when he hit big with the Superfly soundtrack, everyone knew'n'loved him! I never knew his history and just randomly came across this book while perusing the library and decided to give it a go.

Curtis' son tells the tale of the family moving from the South to Chicago and Curtis' grandmother using her Spiritualist background as a source of income - even during the Depression. The family is a bunch of survivors, but just barely, and Curtis had to become the "man" of the house early on - helping raise the other children (he had a deadbeat dad who nonetheless fathered 5 children with Curtis' mother) and doing what he could to help everyone get through life in the ghetto.

His grandmother continued to do ok, though, even opening her own church, while Curtis and his immediate family struggle to eat once in a while. Traveling Soul was taken from her church's name, but is appropriate for Curtis' life, as well.

Curtis fell in love with music early on and as a teen he fell in with like-minded fellows and started his own doo-wop group, where he played guitar and sang. Jerry Butler convinced Curtis to join Butler's group and they soon had a hit song. Naturally, that came with its baggage but plenty of good times, as well, as they toured to adoring fans. But, it also came with record company schemes and Jerry was soon lured away as a solo artist.

But Mayfield did not give up, continued to write and soon his version of the band ("The Original Impressions") had a hit with "Gypsy Woman" and their career soared. There were a few misfires before Mayfield got on a winning streak with hit songs, but once he did, there was no going back. He also wrote numerous hits for other artists - and he made certain that he kept his publishing - so his fortune was secure.

The Impressions career dovetailed with the Civil Right Movement and so both stories are told here, as each influenced the other. Mayfield's writings became more political (although he would not always put it in so many words) and the movement used his songs as rallying cries. The world itself changed with the assassinations of JFK, RFK, Dr. King, Malcolm X and others - it damn near brings tears to the eyes to think of how this country could have flourished without these evil deeds. Mayfield took the events and turned the emotions he felt into hit songs.

Curtis and the Impressions went through many changes and had many hits before Mayfield went solo (and the Impressions continued with a new lead singer) and while he was successful, it was his soundtrack to Superfly that sent his career into the stratosphere! He continued to soar for a few years after that but inevitably, he spread himself too thin (multiple albums each year for himself and other projects as well as running his own record label) and tastes changed and he lost his label and his star no longer shone quite so brightly.

Of course, he had ups as well as downs over the years, but never the record-selling success of his height. Touring remained lucrative and he hit many stops that had escaped him earlier until a true tragedy cut down his performing career abruptly and shortened his life significantly. An incredibly sad ending to an incredible life.

Todd and his collaborator Travis Atria do a great job in telling the tale and keeping the story moving from the exciting early years through to the depressing career slump and crash. Curtis' music has remained relevant as untold numbers of hip-hop artists have sampled his music and paid homage to him. He was a true soul super star - any fan of soul and (real) R'n'B should check this out!

recommended gigs

 

Friday 5-2-25 - No Que No, VaVoom, the Vulgarians at Red Dwarf

Saturday 5-3-25 - the Minges, Wyatt and the Ashes and the Chemical Tribe at Red Dwarf

Saturday 5-3-25 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Monday 5-5-25 - Thee Swank Bastard at the Golden Tiki

Thursday 5-8-25 - Jesika Von Rabbit at Red Dwarf

Friday 5-9-25 - The Implosions record release party with Same Sex Mary and Triple Splits at Red Dwarf

Saturday 5-10-25 - the Venomous Pinks, the Minges, the Has Nots at the Griffin

Saturday 5-10-25 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Sunday 5-11-25 - Bear Supply at Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch

Monday 5-12-25 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Wednesday 5-14-25 - the New Waves at the original Sand Dollar

Friday 5-16-25 - Volume (featuring Derek, ex-of the fabulous B-Movie Rats), Sonolith, Psalm at the Dive Bar

Saturday 5-17-25 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Monday 5-19-25 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Thursday 5-22-25 - The Shakewells with Ch3 and the English Beat at the Citrus Grand Pool Deck at the Downtown Grand

Saturday 5-24-25 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Sunday 5-25-25 - Generic Surf Band at Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch

Sunday 5-25-25 - New Bomb Turks, The Baboon Show, Civic, Cromm Fallon and the P200 at the Usual Place

Monday 5-26-25 - The Briefs, Cromm Fallon and the P200 at the Citrus Grand Pool Deck

Monday 5-26-25 - the Dogs, Talking Bombs, Gob Patrol and Soldiers of Destruction at Red Dwarf

Monday 5-26-25 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Tuesday 5-27-25 - Detroit Cobras, Pure Sport, the Implosions at Grey Witch's grand opening

Saturday 5-31-25 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Monday 6-2-25 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki