D-Sides, Orphans, and Oddities
Episodes
Wednesday May 18, 2022
Yet MORE First Recordings of Famous Songs.
Wednesday May 18, 2022
Wednesday May 18, 2022
The Blue Cats - Nowhere Man (196?) I'm gonna guess 1966 since this band released three albums of covers of their time plus some instrumental originals. Probably German studio guys bringing the Western hits of the day to their homeland.
Diane and Annita - Groovey Kind of Love (1965) Fans (?) of this release propose that this might not even be the titular singers (who sound nothing like the voices on this recording) but actually the writers, Carol Bayer-Sager and Toni Wine. Annita Ray also recorded a one-off novelty single with Eden Ahbez, the writer of "Nature Boy," in 1956. It was titled "Frankie's Song" b/w "Elvis Presley Blues."
Wikipedia: The melody is from the Rondo from Muzio Clementi's Sonatina, Opus 36, No. 5. Even though Wine and Sager claim full songwriting credits, they mainly wrote the lyrics and just slightly modified Clementi's music. Bayer Sager originally pitched the song to pop star Lesley Gore in early 1965, but Gore's producer at the time, Shelby Singleton, rejected it, as he found the word "groovy" too slangy.
Gene Cotton - Let Your Love Flow (1975)
The Undisputed Truth - Papa Was A Rollin' Stone (1972) This version actually preceded the Grammy-winning version by The Temptations, and the two are pretty similar. The Undisputed Truth had their biggest hit with a song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong as well, "Smiling Faces Sometimes", which was originally recorded by The Temptations! This is another trivia question you can ask your friend.
Beau Williams - C'est La Vie (1984)
Black Magic! - Miss Jessie (1970)
Brian Wilson - Just Say No (1986)
C.W. McCall - Kidnap America (1980)
The Soul Searchers - We The People (1972)
Roogalator - Cincinnatti Fatback (1976) Note the Stiff Records logo on the upper left corner. This was one of the first Stiff releases. Danny Adler was an American ex-pat living in England. This was the second version of Roogalator (formed in 1972), and as much as this track smokes, the band got virtually no support from the label, and constant personnel changes killed the group. Could you have hung on that long with an entire movement (that you helped start) bubbling under your feet, only to be ignored and ultimately ripped off?
Cliff Bennett and his Band - Back In The U.S.S.R. (1968)
Con-Funk-Shun - Clique (1974)
Sesame Street - Cracks (1976) "Cracks" is an animated musical insert produced for Sesame Street in the 1970s. A young girl is unable to go outside to play because of the rain, and so she imagines the cracks in her wall form a camel. The camel takes her on an adventure through the wall where she meets a hen and a monkey, also made out of cracks.
The voice is the one and only Dorothy Moskowitz, who I featured on a recent show. She is mostly known as the female voice of The United States of America.
Debby Dobbins - How You Gonna Feel (1979)
A selection from the one and only album by Don Thompson - Fanny Brown/Just Plain Funk/Night Ladies/Hang Loose (1977)
God, I love this funk.
From Dusty Groove: The one and only album from drummer Don Thompson – a funky Brunswick classic from the 70s, and one of the most unique records we've ever heard from the label at the time! Don's got this style of singing that has a bit of a southern twang at times, but he works with grooves that are definitely northern in their orientation – served up in a range of styles that includes the funky drum break of the title cut, some mellow-stepping moments on a few other tunes, and the bouncing boogie that's really become the album's calling card over the years! There's loads of great bass work on most cuts, which really grounds that album alongside Don's drums – and titles include "Just Plain Funk", "Fanny Brown", "Lovin To The Bone", "Night Ladies (part 1 & 2)", and "Hang Loose".
Donny Hathaway - The Ghetto (1970) His early records were expansive and unique, and his voice was second to none. He was every bit the equal of Stevie and Marvin, but you know him from his duets with Roberta Flack.
Wikipedia: During the peak of his career, Hathaway began suffering from severe bouts of depression and exhibiting unusual behavior. In 1971, he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia for which he was prescribed various medications. At one point, Hathaway was prescribed fourteen different medications that he was to take twice a day. After Hathaway was diagnosed and began taking medication, his mental state improved. However, Eulaulah Hathaway has said that her husband became less than diligent about following his prescription regimen when he began feeling better and often stopped taking his medications altogether. From 1973 to 1977, Hathaway's mental instability wreaked havoc on his life and career and required several hospitalizations. The effects of his depression and severe mood swings also drove a wedge in his and Flack's friendship; they did not reconcile for several years, and did not release additional music until the successful release of "The Closer I Get To You" in 1978. Flack and Hathaway then resumed studio recording to compose a second album of duets.
You should investigate his discography, especially this stunning debut album, Everything Is Everything. He was brilliant.
Donny Hathaway - To Be Young, Gifted, and Black (1970)
Donnie Most - Rock Is Dead (1976)
Enoch Light and the Light Brigade - Pick Up The Pieces (1975) John Miller on bass.
Enoch Light and the Light Brigade - Puppet Man (1970)
Fleetwood Mac - Sentimental Lady (1972) POACA will remember that Bob Welch rerecorded this with a more prominent Christine McVie backing vocal part. The singing members of Fleetwood Mac circa 1977-1980 could have crapped on a cracker and it would have gone gold.
The Mothers of Invention - Help, I'm a Rock (Suite In Three Movements)
I. Okay To Tap Dance
II. In Memoriam, Edgard Varèse
lll. It Can't Happen Here (1966)
Ian Dury and the Blockheads - Reasons To Be Cheerful (Pt. 3) (1980)
Kelly Gordon - He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother (1969) First version. Beautiful.
Kid Creole and the Coconuts - Indiscreet (1983) Live. Goddammit, Carol Colman on bass.
The Residents - Die In Terror (1980)
Hoover Commercial with Brian Johnson of AC/DC on vocals. (1979)
Carpenters - Suntory Pop Jingle (1977)
Sunday Apr 03, 2022
Chuck Berry.
Sunday Apr 03, 2022
Sunday Apr 03, 2022
The Beach Bums - The Yellow Beret (1966) Did you know Bob Seger was such a right-wing nut job?
The song is a parody of The Ballad Of The Green Berets by Barry Sadler, a huge hit in February 1966, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Cashbox, and Billboard Adult Contemporary charts, as well as #2 on the Country charts. It sold over two million copies in just the first two weeks. This song is a stark contrast to Seger's better-known ANTI-Viet Nam song, "2 + 2 + ? " released just 2 years later.
As you know, Seger finally hit the big time with Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man in 1969, but what you might NOT know is that future Eagle Glenn Frey played acoustic guitar and sang backing vocals on Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man.
Bob Seger - The Famous Final Scene (1977) My favorite song of his.
Wings - Give Ireland Back To The Irish (1972)
John Lennon - The Luck Of The Irish (1972)
Gilbert Neal and Ken Ray Wilemon - Photograph (2017)
Gilbert Neal and Ken Ray Wilemon - Give Me Love (2017)
Johnny "Guitar" Watson - I Wanna Ta Ta You, Baby (1976)
Johnny "Guitar" Watson - Superman Lover (1976)
Zappa on Watson:
"Watson, he's the original minimalist guitar player. The solo on "Lonely Nights," the one-note guitar solo? Says it all! Gets the point across. I can remember guitar players in high school learning that solo and just going, "But how does he get it to sound that way?" It really was one note. If you can play that note against those chord changes and derive the same emotional impact that he got from playing that note, then you're onto something. He can make that one be so nasty. You know, like, "What's behind that note? What is the mode? Why are you continuing to play the tonic when the dominant chord comes around? Are you goin' like this [gestures with his middle finger in the F-you" position] with your playing or what?" You have to learn how to do that. (...)generally the people who write about music don't know music. Anybody can tell whether these four notes are faster than these four notes. But what does it take to listen to Johnny Guitar Watson's one note, and know that he's doin' that? Did you ever point that out to a reader? Did you ever get across that there's something more to it than rilly-rilly-ree?"
Johnny "Guitar" Watson - It's All About the Dollar Bill (1977) "Distributed by Amherst Records, 355 Harlem Road, Buffalo (West Seneca, really), NY, 14224" which was about .25 miles from where I grew up. They would occasionally have cut-out sales in that warehouse. I bought an American "Greatest Hits" album by The Move, but it was so cheaply packaged and sounded terrible.
Gilbert Neal and Ken Ray Wilemon - This Guy's In Love In With Guy (2017)
Gilbert Neal and Ken Ray Wilemon - Come Sail Away (2017)
O C Smith - La La Peace Song (1974)
The Equals - Black Skinned, Blue-Eyed Boys (1970) Written by Eddie Grant of "Electric Avenue" fame.
The Revox Singers - The Woodstock Message (1969?) An anti-war single from around that time. I think it was a song-poem. In other words, someone sent a poem to a "boutique" record company (in this case, Aladdin Records out of Chicago) and they wrote accompaniment.
Percy Mayfield - Walking On A Tightrope (1969)
Percy Mayfield - I Don't Want To Be President (1974)
Discogs:
US R&B vocalist and composer (b. August 12, 1920, Minden, Louisiana, d. August 11, 1984, Los Angeles, CA)Though maybe mostly known for penning the classic "Hit the Road, Jack", Mayfield himself was a major performer for the Specialty label in the first half of the 50s delivering slow blues ballads with his smoky voice reminiscent of Charles Brown. His biggest hit was the 1950 "Please Send Me Someone to Love", an R&B standard covered by many singers since then.The good-looking Mayfield was nearly killed in a 1952 car accident that left his face severely scarred and may have had a limiting effect on his career as a performer. In 1961 Ray Charles made his "Hit The Road, Jack" a major hit, and Mayfield was subsequently hired by Charles's Tangerine Records as a songwriter.After a decade in the background, Mayfield had a comeback and released several albums late 60s to early 70s on Tangerine and RCA. On these albums, Mayfield's smoky baritone voice is often heard accompained by top jazz session-players of the era.
Percy Mayfield - Right On, Young Americans (1972)
Gilbert Neal and Ken Ray Wilemon - Show Me The Way (2017)
Gilbert Neal and Ken Ray Wilemon - Miracles (2017)
Gilbert Neal and Ken Ray Wilemon - Fooled Around In Love (2017)
I chose some lesser-known songs from Chuck Berry's post-heyday. Some of the songs on these records are great stories like the great man could do effortlessly.
Chuck Berry - Ma Dear (1965)
Chuck Berry - Bio (1973)
Chuck Berry - My Dream (1971)
Friday Mar 18, 2022
A Small Eternity In New York City.
Friday Mar 18, 2022
Friday Mar 18, 2022
You might like this little slice of relatively well-recorded tomfoolery recorded live at the famous Fillmore East in 1971. What a night it must have been. Anyhow, it really depends on which mix you like better. Lennon and Ono or Frank Zappa. To me, Some Time In New York City sounds pretty muddy. I like this album because it has (to my knowledge) none of Zappa's Xenechrony. It's all raw, but if you really pay attention, these Mothers were pretty tight.
Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention - Well
Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention - Say Please
Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention - Aaawk (I love Yoko's ferocious "aaawk" squeals...like she's repeatedly being shoved underwater.)
Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention - Scumbag
Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention - A Small Eternity With Yoko Ono
Willie Dickson and The Playboys - Licking Stick (1969)
Andrea True Connection - More, More, More (1976) Instrumental version sounds almost like a run-through. Especially that bass. I like it.
Collective Consciousness Society CCS - Whole Lotta Love (1971)
Discogs: CCS (Collective Consciousness Society) was a British group formed by bluesman Alexis Korner and Danish vocalist Peter Thorup. The band itself also consisted of different studio casts who would be around but also included Tony Carr (drums), Herbie Flowers (bass), Harold Beckett (trumpet), Harold McNair (woodwind), and Henry Lowther (trumpet), among others. This wasn’t all, as they were going for a unique sound to rival the top Rock acts of the day. So they would grab the creme de la creme of jazz studio musicians of the time. The entire lineup would always be subject to change throughout the band’s history, depending on personnel availability at recordings.
Desmond Dekker and the Aces - Licking Stick (1971)
David Peel and the Lower East Side - The Ballad of New York City - John Lennon / Yoko Ono (1972)
Elephant's Memory - Local Plastic Ono Band (1972)
George Torrence and the Naturals - (Mama, Come Quick, And Bring Your) Lickin' Stick (1968) Note the composer.
James Brown - Licking Stick, Licking Stick (1968) Now, the same song, re-written by James Brown.
Rusty Garnett - Licking Stick, Licking Stick (196?)
Tenth Hour - Lickin Stick (1975) This beat Shazam! Credited to Charles Manley and George Torrence.
The United States Air Force Band featuring The Free Design – "The Now Sound Of Christmas" (1968) These are all live recordings, and some have never been released on Free Design albums. ESPECIALLY the song "Shepherds and Wisemen" which, to my ears, is very good. A hidden gem.
The Proper Ornaments/Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence/Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer/Close Your Mouth (It's Christmas)/Christmas Is The Day/Winter Wonderland/Shepherds and Wise Men/Reprise-The Now Sound of Christmas. It would be so nice to hear this on a big FM radio console in a living room.
Jimmy Castor Bunch (featuring the Everything Man) - Supersound (1975) I love this.
Tuesday Mar 15, 2022
Chicago and Some Extracurricular Activities
Tuesday Mar 15, 2022
Tuesday Mar 15, 2022
The Knack - Africa (1981) From their 3rd album, Round Trip.
Peter Cetera - Holy Moly (1981)
Gerard McMahon - Hello Operator (1976)
Robert Lamm - Crazy Way to Spend a Year (1974)
Angelo - It Don't Matter (1976) With the Chicago horns, as well as Danny Seraphine on drums, Laudir de Oliveira on percussion, and the ubiquitous Peter Cetera.
Odyssey - Home Of The Brave (1972) With Donnie "Hot Licks" Dacus.
Robert Lamm - Where You Think You're Goin? (1972)
Don Felder - Never Surrender (1983) Written with Kenny Loggins ("Footloose", "Danny's Song") and featuring Pankow and Loughnane.
Gene McDaniels - Feel Like Makin' Love (1975)
Joe Vitale - Sailor Man (1981)
Leon Russell - Let's Get Started (1978)
The Knack - Lil' Cals Big Mistake (1981)
Maynard Ferguson - Rocky II Disco (1979) Featuring the real Sylvester Stallone on grunting, and Danny Seraphine on drums.
Flo & Eddie - Hot (1975) Featuring D. H.L. Dacus on slide guitar.
Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman signed with Columbia [Records] as Flo & Eddie. In his autobiography Shell Shocked, Kaylan revealed that upon receiving the cover art for their first album, they were appalled to learn that the printer had mistakenly printed the duo's stage names in the wrong order above their photograph. Volman was identified as Flo, which had been Kaylan's stage name in [Frank] Zappa's band, and Kaylan was identified as Eddie, Volman's stage name. The label refused to reprint the cover, saying that it would cost too much money. Thus, Kaylan and Volman decided to professionally swap stage names.
They sang backing vocals on so many famous songs and albums that you've likely heard them today. Among them:
"Bang a Gong" by T Rex.
Illegal Stills - Stephen Stills
From The Inside - Alice Cooper
"Hungry Heart" by Bruce Springsteen
Blondie, Psychedelic Furs, Todd Rundgren (when you hear "Bang on the Drum All Day" at a sporting event, that's them singing,) Duran Duran, etc. Volman and Kaylan also sang on the first recording by Steely Dan, a demo of "Everyone's Gone To The Movies." I read an article where Kaylan says he was asked to be their lead singer, but he nixed the idea of singing without his partner.
James William Guercio - Tell Me (1973)
Peter Cetera - Livin' in the Limelight (1980)
Wikipedia: When Columbia Records dropped Chicago in 1981, Cetera was in the middle of recording his first solo album for the same label. He had to personally buy the rights to the album before it could be released. According to Cetera, Chicago's new record company, Warner Bros., released the Peter Cetera album while it was waiting for Chicago 16 to be released. Cetera has asserted that one reason for the album's poor commercial success, however, was lack of support from the record company: the record company didn't want it to be successful and didn't promote it for fear that he would leave the group. In his 2011 autobiography, former Chicago bandmate, Danny Seraphine, backs up Cetera on this point, writing, "... [the album] sank like a stone due to lack of record company support. Warner Brothers didn't want it to interfere with their plans for Chicago." A full-page advertisement announcing the album appeared on page 100 of the November 21, 1981 issue of Billboard magazine.
Marcos Valle - A Paraíba Não é Chicago (1981)
Sunday Sep 13, 2020
It sure as f*** CAN happen here.
Sunday Sep 13, 2020
Sunday Sep 13, 2020
Frank Zappa - Teenage Wind (1980)
Enoch Light - Pick Up The Pieces (1975)
The Wind In The Willows - Djini Judy (1968) That's Debby Harry. Ah, the possibilities must have seemed endless at the time. But in 1976, Debby and her boyfriend Chris Stein, fresh from The Stillettoes, formed Blondie and became Punk icons. But everyone comes from somewhere. I guess.
Champion Jack Dupree - Story Of My Life (1953) American pianist and singer, born in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA (in 1908, 1909, or 1910) and died 21 January 1992 in Hannover, Germany. He enjoyed a long musical career after starting out as a boxer.
Chuck Berry - Go Go Go (1963)
Zappa - Brown Shoes Don't Make It (1967)
The Animals - Story Of Bo Diddley (1964)
Leonard Cohen - The Guests (1979)
Manfred Mann - The One In The Middle (1965)
The Barbarians - Moulty (1966)
Wikipedia:
Victor "Moulty" Moulton, the subject of the song, was the drummer of The Barbarians, despite the impairment of his left hand. Moulton critically damaged the hand when, at the age of 14, a homemade pipe bomb prematurely detonated while it was in Moulton's grip. The hand was amputated and subsequently replaced with a metallic prosthetic device that Moulton could attach a drum stick to. When Moulton formed the group in 1964, his disability added an unusual allure to the band's rebellious image that was, in part, responsible for their popularity after their appearance on The T.A.M.I. Show alongside The Rolling Stones, Lesley Gore, and The Supremes.
Moulton commenced recording of the song in early 1966 in New York City while the rest of the band was situated in Boston. For the recording session, Moulton was backed by the Hawks, later known as The Band, who were currently working as Bob Dylan's support group. The lyrics were rearranged by Moulton to include the spoken intro section of the song. The composition opens with Moulton melodramatically reflecting on the struggle of losing his left hand, while the backing vocalists encouraged "Moulty" to "Don't turn away". It continues with "Moulty" achieving his dream, and the song shifts into a balladesque structure in the third verse when "Moulty" realizes he is still lacking love. A chorus ensues and fades out, leaving the question of whether or not "Moulty" managed to find his love. With the uncertain conclusion, a mystique remained around Moulton, which played a role in his enigmatic persona.
Leonard Cohen - True Love Leaves No Traces (1977) Here's a pretty good article from RS about the album. Produced by Phil Spector.
Them - The Story Of Them (pts. 1 & 2) (1967)
Frank Zappa - Help I'm A Rock (1966)
Frank Zappa - It Can't Happen Here (1966)
Glenn Yarbrough & The Limeliters - Acres Of Limeliters (1974)
Paul Revere & The Raiders - Legend Of Paul Revere (1967)
Ike & Tina Turner - Nutbush City Limits (1973) Remember that RSRG from 1981? Ike's albums were all 4- or 5 stars, Tina had released two records while she was still "finding herself" and rated 2 stars each. In fact, the author/reviewer more or less advocated that she go back with Ike. Musically. Now, I've seen the movie "On The Record" and let me tell you. Men like Ike Turner, James Brown, and the like were geniuses. But they were geniuses because the part of their brain that made them musical successes was supposed to be the part of their brain that told them that hitting women was bad. My theory. To laud these geniuses for what they were, there's a great deal of separation that you need to be able to negotiate. Tina's song here isn't bad at all. She's never been my favorite. She scared me in Tommy.
Leonard Cohen - Avalanche (1971)
Iggy Pop - Dum Dum Boys (1977)
John Cale - Autobiography (1984)
Alejandro Escovedo - Nuns Song (2008)
Leonard Cohen - Field Commander Cohen (1974)
Ekseption – Pick Up The Pieces (1975)
Kim Fowley - Mom And Dad (1978)
The Tareyton advertisements were a stroke of genius. Recognizable, fun, ubiquitous. When you saw one, you knew what the message was. And the slogan, "I'd rather fight than switch", lent itself to blues and country music very well.
Come with me, won't you?
100 Proof (Aged In Soul) - I'd Rather Fight Than Switch (1972)
George Jones & The Jones Boys - I'd Rather Switch Than Fight (1965)
A.C. Reed - I'd Rather Fight Than Switch (1965)
Ruby Johnson - I'd Rather Fight Than Switch (1965?)
Don Whitley & Joyce Duke - We'd Rather Fight Than Switch (1965)
Charlie Walker - I'd Rather Switch Than Fight (1965)
Rev. Overstreet & Templette's of Portland, Oregon - Rather Fight Than Switch (197?)
The Residents - Give It To Someone Else (1980)
Martha Stewart even appeared in a Tareyton ad. What a comely lass.