Sunday, August 25, 2013

Well, whaddaya wanna talk about tonight Louie? Not much to discuss really, but try I must. Howzbout if I mention a few up-to-date 'n reliable current events, like perhaps that situation in Oklahoma where some kids drove around and killed an Australian baseball player just because they wuz bored! Sheesh, I always knew that sports could kill you, but when I was a kid and you were bored all ya hadda do was sneak into the bathroom with a copy of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC (one with a hula gal or Japanese pearl diver article) smuggled under your shirt! I guess that despite some innocent guy (even though you kinda get the feeling the defense'll try to make him look like the bad boy in this situation) getting offed its actually good that things like this do happen every so often, if only for people to blab on about their pet causes and how such and such wouldn't have happened if things only went THEIR way.

What else is there---how about Chelsea ne. Bradley Manning?!?!?! Sheesh, the guy had been coming off like the biggest hero since Daniel Ellsberg leaked "The Pentagon Papers" to THE NEW YORK TIMES then right as he's about to be sentenced he does this big blubbering act saying how sorry he is for alla that damage his leaks caused (even if, dare I say it, this country has deserved a lotta the damage it's accrued for perhaps the past forty-four administrations) before going off to get a sex change! I guess the switch in sex is pretty well-timed...after all he's probably have it easier in a women's prison than a man's even though I'm sure his sexiness will be the envy of every butch guard and hardened lifer lucky enough to corner her in the gang shower! Either way Bradley/Chelsea goes you kinda get the feeling (s)he's gonna be enduring some rather interesting evenings for the next thirty years.

OK, enough of da nooze...here's this week's musical reviews and I hope you can dig its reality as Nathan Beauregard would have said. Thanks again to Bill Shute because financial constraints have put a kibosh on my planned Forced Exposure order for at least the next month or so (by which time all of the items I have lined up for purchase will probably be gone for good!). Thankfully I do have a few things I picked up via ebay heading my way which should stifle some of the boredom around here, and you can bet your buttocks that I am anxiously looking forward to the day when I do receive the bevy of beauteous booty via FE which is guaranteed to keep me pumped up at least a good five minutes after which the excitement subsides. Until then it's shoestring budget time, and nothing else!


Sam Rivers-CONCEPT CD-R (originally on Rivbea)

It's nice hearing that longtime free jazz multi-instrumentalist Rivers went out on a good note 'stead of by recording some subpar sputum or disco drek that never did rake inna moolah like the label bigwigs thought it would. Hot trio settings from the mid-nineties featuring Rivers on tenor and soprano sax, flute and piano with Doug Matthews on bass and bass clarinet and Anthony Cole handling drums and tenor sax. Titles range from a woodwind trio to hot Cecil Taylor-ish piano romping and even some getdown swingy funky grooves can be discerned on (I believe) "Notion." Best thing about it is it's all as good as the stuff Sam was doing in the sixties and seventies back when more than a few people were paying attention to the "new thing" in jazz...nowadays the idea that this music even garnered a listenership as big as it did seems about as distant a memory as the record shops brimming with rarities similar to this and many other soundscapades that I never thought I would get to hear in a millyun years!
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Big Joe Turner-I DON'T DIG IT CD-R burn (originally on Jukebox Lil, Sweden)

Early trax from one of those originator of rock 'n roll types, recorded with a number of trios and big bands throughout the forties back when this stuff was still considered swinging by the same folk who'd do the upchuck routine while you listened to Turner's spiritual successors a good twenty years later. Good flat-out performances of both the familiar and the new to my ears that somehow fit in swell during the Sunday afternoon I listened to them, though the entire proceedings would have benefited from some commentary from Bus Eubanks, eh Bill?
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Butterbeans and Susie-ELEVATOR PAPA, SWITCHBOARD MAMA CD-R burn (originally on JSP, UK)

Sorta like a black Bickersons who set their act to music with swift 'n witty repartee. Gives you the feeling that those dirty Laff Record albums you used to see at the shopping mall record stores aren't that far down the proverbial line. Nothing outright nasty here, but the back 'n forth banter does approach areas that might have made Aunt Mabel a little uncomfortable. Nice bloozy twenties feel to these which should appeal to those who go for these various compilations of African-Americana coming out on disque, or even the Moran and Mack collection for that matter.
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Various Artists-URANIUM IN MY BANANA SPLIT CD-R (compiled by Bill You-Know-Who!)


Better than I was expecting sampler courtesy Mr. Bill with not just one but two fifties Three Little Pigs jivers (one by the infamous Al "Jazzbo" Collins and the other by none other than "5 1/2 Year Old Humorous Dian"!), the Nutty Squirrels' infamous Chipmunks cash-in "Uh Oh," Keith West of Tomorrow fame and plenty more where that came from! And, as you would expect, there's even a Christmas ditty of an early-sixties variety here sung by some li'l Mexican chico asking mamasita "Donde Esta Santa Claus?" which is a whole lot more palatable than "Tu tiene una cara como un puerco!"

You're (or actually I am since you're never gonna get to hear my disque!) definitely in for a surprise whether it be Junior Wells and A.C. Reed getting all early-seventies "relevant" or some gospel crankouts that are so old-timey you woulda thought you heard 'em on some UHF station in 1959. Can't complain even if the Rovin' Flames' "How Many Times" can be found on PEBBLES and that unknown acetate from '67 is a bit too hippie commercial for my tastes, but since I'm getting these things for free it ain't like I'm gonna bark that loud!
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Cab Calloway-ARE YOU HEP TO THE JIVE CD-R burn (originally on Columbia)

Yet another one of those "changes o' pace," this time from the immortal Cab Calloway who romps with band through a good twenny-two sides originally recorded for Columbia between '39 and '47. About as much the roots of rock 'n roll as the rest of that boogie groove, Calloway proves himself a master performer through a whole passel o' jivetalk numbers that have more of a swing and soul to 'em than anything broadcast these past thirtysome years. If you wanna know where alla those white nerds playing at hepcat you saw in those old MAD magazines got it, look no further. Of course it contains "Minnie the Moocher," a song that's pretty much not safe to perform these days if you're white.
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The Yardbirds-LITTLE GAMES SESSIONS AND MORE two CD-R set (originally on Capitol)

Once again it's Bill to the rescue with a new bunch of savory goodies to arrive since the ones reviewed above, this being the first of what should prove to be a funzy weekend. And the best part about it is that well...I was actually thinking about buying this particular double-disque collection of various LITTLE GAMES outtakes, alternates and whatnot but decided not to because of the ol' tightening of the wallet! Gee Bill, you really saved me a bundle this time!

Purty good selection of goodies show up here too, including a variety of instrumental backing tracks that sound OK on their lonesome, some alternative takes, mono versions, a whole slew of tracks ne'er before heard and of course loadsof surprises including some items by the post-Yardbirds/pre-Renaissance Together (they sound kinda commercial folky but you won't throw up). A good portion of this stuff was new to my ears (which would figure since I never did get to hear the original album due to high collector prices), so you could say that it was a fine time to be had even if you can hear the aesthetic tug o' war between Jimmy Page and Mickey Most between the grooves, or whatever it is that CD-r's have!

Extra special bonus...the infamous "Great Shakes" commercial tops the entire shebang off and if you don't want to run down to your local store to buy some after hearing this then nothing will! Oh wait they don't make that any more...howzbout some of that Borden milkshake in a can that I used to think was endorsed by Patty Duke and that kid that played her brother because the actors they used on the commercial looked so much like 'em? Aw yeah, they don't even make that anymore (drat!).
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Paul Revere & the Raiders-MOJO WORKOUT! 2-CD-R set (originally on Sundazed)

Whoa, where are my old issues of BOMP, KICKS and that all time fave FLASH #1??? Sure coulda used this double-header of early Columbia-era Paul Revere back when I was snatching those famzines up for the very first time I'll tell ya! And really, who in their right mind woulda thunk that Columbia would've ever unleashed their Raider vaults like they have on this extended romp of fun, even if they had collector's label Sundazed do it for 'em like they've been doing with much of their rockin' back catalog for the past umpteen years?

These platters capture the Raiders 1963-1964 right before their big break when the hard rage of Northwest rock was still foremost in the group's overall makeup and the more "commercial" if still full-force Top 40 stylings were a good two or so years off. Yeah you could say that the overall impact of the "live in the studio" and rehearsal tracks from September 1964 was a far cry from the stuff the Wailers or Sonics were cranking out at the same time, but the same energy and spirit is there not to mention a good portion of the repertoire. Y'know, those teenage white guy takes on aging black guy songs done up in that great knotty pine way that made numbers like "Louie Louie" and " Searchin'" anthems for suburban slobs nationwide!

The early Columbia singles are here too and the entire shebang ends with a few tracks that actually made it to HERE THEY COME's studio side, and frankly I can't think of a better tribute to the group's early Columbia days when they were about to consume the entire nation with one felt swoop. And not only that, but I'm sure that the original copy has a nice big booklet that has detailed liner notes by Billy Miller even!
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Yeah it ain't much, but just wait until next time!!! JUST WAIT!!!!!!!!!!! Nyaaaah!

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