Snow Day

This Month's Vinyl Sharity

2011-07-05T11:42:00.000-07:00

Rod McKuen, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Rod McKuen Sings & Conducts His Score (Warner Bros., 1969)

So this isn't the soundtrack of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (that was released on 20th Century Fox Records), but rather this is McKuen's own "cover album" of parts of the score. It is very competent, superbly McKuen, and I think out of print.

Side One
1. Jean (Vocal by McKuen)
2. Flanders Field
3. Bend Down and Touch Me
4. The Favorite Sweet of Little Princess Margaret Rose
5. The Ivy That Clings to the Wall
6. Lloyd's Room
7. The Other Tango

Side Two
1. Overture
2. The Ivy That Clings to the Wall (Vocal by McKuen)
3. Winter Like My Life Is Passing
4. Marcia Blaine's Athletic Supporters
5. Jean (End Title) (Vocal by McKuen)

You'll find it here.

This Month's Vinyl Sharity

2011-06-25T15:15:00.000-07:00

Nacha Guevara, Para Cuando Me Vaya (Gamma Records, 1976)

Nacha Guevara, the Argentine vocalist and actress (and I think political activist or candidate, but the ol' Google Translate seems to produce some rather unidiomatic English), recorded this album over thirty years ago. The album presents a mix of arrangements, suggesting, if not actually achieving, a number of significantly different musical styles; it is quite nice, actually.

Side 1
1. Para Cuando Me Vaya
2. Ay, Del Amor
3. Don Carlos
4. Esta Cancion
5. Vuela Pena

Side 2
6. Yo No Te Pido
7. Anos
8. El Manantial
9. Diario
10. En Busca de Una Nueva Flor

Right here.

Not My Sharity

2011-06-15T07:02:00.001-07:00

New York City, I'm Doin' Fine Now (Chelsea, 1973)

I've been prepping this off and on for a month or so, but one of the tracks on my LP is just ruined (but the others are fine), so it has been hard to to feel excited about the upload. But it is a really good Philly-style album from New York City.

But wait. A little Googling reveals that the great Funk My Soul posted a fine vinyl rip of this album a while ago. So you should get it here.

This person has posted an "edit" of the title track that you can play on the Soundcloud. It sounds to me like a track ripped from this CD. But perhaps I'm wrong.

This Month's Vinyl Sharity

2011-02-27T07:54:00.000-08:00

Kings Road, Super Hits Volume 3 (Pickwick, >1972)

This is one more Pickwick "budget" collection of sound-alike covers.

I still find it hard to believe that people bought these things: who would want covers of the big hits? And if the consumer is "tricked" into thinking that these are the originals, wouldn't record stores end up with disgruntled or angry customers? Different times, obviously.

Kings Road, Super Hits Volume 3 SPC-3904

Side 1
1. Maggie May
2. Go Away Little Girl
3. The Things We Care About
4. I Woke Up in Love This Morning
5. Do You Know What I Mean

Side 2
1. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
2. Ain't No Sunshine
3. You've Got a Friend
4. Is That The Way
5. Call My Name and I'll Be There

The link: here as usual.

This Month's Vinyl Sharity

2010-12-31T09:52:00.000-08:00

Andy Mackay, In Search of Eddie Riff (Polydor, 1974)

This is the possibly out-of-print (at least in America) solo album by Andy Mackay, who is obviously one of the central, continuing members of Roxy Music. It is an interesting hodge-podge of tracks, demonstrating certainly his artistic breadth. This is well worth a download.

The album art is scavenged from the interwebs: lazy me.

Track list:
1. Wild Weekend
2. The End of the World
3. Walking the Whippet
4. What Becomes of the Broken Hearted
5. An Die Musik
6. Time Regained
7. The Hour Before Dawn
8. Pyramid of Night (Past, Present and Future)
9. Long and Winding Road
10. Ride of the Valkyries

The songs are included in this large zip file.

Of course, I'm banking this post for February 2011.

This Month's Cassette Sharity

2010-12-31T09:39:00.000-08:00

Gwen Vandal, Bill Herlihy, and Elizabeth Connor, Reading Recorded at SUNY Geneseo (6 May 1976)

Here's a recorded literary reading (certainly we have poetry, and there's another work that might be poetry, prose poetry, or fiction: I'm not sure) performed in May 1976 by either students or recent graduates (or both) of the State University of New York, College at Geneseo.

The tape begins with some brief dialogue from students seemingly assembled before the reading, but then everyone gets down to business. There's a bit more from someone who may be Herlihy than the other folks for some reason.

Both sides are available as one large zip file.

And this is banked (one day in advance) as my January 2010 posting, so happy new year to you.

This Month's Cassette Sharity

2010-12-31T09:20:00.000-08:00

Haki Madhubuti, Recorded at Attica Prison (26 May 1978)

Haki Madhubuti, originally known as Don L. Lee, is a poet, publisher, and activist, well-known to those familiar with the Black Arts Movement and the Third World Press. This tape records what seems to be a discussion Madhubuti held with a group of convicts, explaining his own story and generally advancing a relatively positive, motivating, Afro-centric world view. This is a little after From Plan to Planet, but seems to be along those sort of lines.

The first side begins in media res, and the audio quality of the second side is horrible, as if someone put a blanket over the microphone. I've included the track anyway because, if you can crank your speakers high enough, or adjust your levels a bit via your equalizer, or know how to use Audacity, you can make the track sort of listenable. But my own remastering was too unpleasant to share: I think you can do better on your own with the original.

Both sides are here in one big zip.

And this is my December 2010 posting.

This Month's Cassette Sharity

2010-12-31T09:02:00.000-08:00

Charles Olson, Reading Recorded at SUNY Cortland (20 October 1967)

If the Irwin post was meant to stand for an early October posting, it seems I have a lot more to do before the year's end. This month-to-month thing is tough, I'm telling you.

Yes, another tape. I know: I prefer the records, too. But at least the next couple posts are unusual, sort of.

This is a recording of a poetry reading Charles Olson (1910-1970) gave at the State University of New York, College at Cortland, back in 1967. Olson is the major poet of the Black Mountain School; he changed (or influenced) post-war American poetry tremendously.

There is an archive of a number of readings by Olson here, but the Cortland reading does not appear. This is a rarity, then.

You will find the two mp3 files (one each side) here.

So this should have been my November posting.

Not My Sharity

2010-07-20T16:42:00.000-07:00

Pearl Harbour, Pearls Galore! (1984)

This is a two-year-old post that is still active at Vinyl Goldmine. You should go get it, and the live tracks, too. And check out the first album here.

This Month's Cassette Sharity

2010-07-16T15:07:00.001-07:00

Irwin, Tina Charles, and Francis Goya, Sony Low-Noise C-60 (n.d.)

Someone was throwing this cassette away, so, of course, what would be a better thing to share? There isn't a track listing, and most of the songs (I believe) are Finn anyway, so I'm not much help. Why do I think it is Finnish-language? Because, as you can see, the tape insert above has"Koko I Puoli" ("I'm half full," according to Google Translate) written at the end of the first side.

Side one is attributed to "Irwin": the songs have a mix of genres, although there is an on-going propensity for each song to dissolve into what sounds like a polka. Of course, the major Finnish vocalist and musician named Irwin is Irwin Goodman, but I'm not sure this is the same guy. The style seems a little different from some his videos on the YouTube.

On side two, the original recorder added some 1970s Britpop disco beats from Tina Charles and a little classical guitar by Francis Goya.

I'm splitting this into two big mp3s: one here and another here.

And this is an early posting for October 2010.

This Month's Cassette Sharity

2010-07-16T14:29:00.000-07:00

Moaners, Moaners 7" (<1990)

If you attended the great University of Delaware during the mid-to-late 1980s, you may remember Jerry "Pumpkinhead" Lehane, a local musician and purveyor of self-recorded-and-transferred cassettes. Most of the tapes featured local bands, and I recall him working the soundboard at local shows and gigs, so they weren't bootlegs, exactly. But many of the recordings featured (the) Moaners. Moaners are, or perhaps is, Lehane's band, which seems to be often his own solo performance project. Note that the band name is an anagram of Ramones.

This cassette features five tracks, ranging in style. I know the Dylan song isn't his own, but the rest seem to be of Lehane's own composition. There's no track listing anywhere, so only two tunes are identified: "It Ain't Me, Babe," and "Fireman," which he conveniently titles at the song's beginning.

And the download link is here.

This posting is banked ahead of time as a September 2010 posting.

This Month's Cassette Sharity

2010-07-15T10:33:00.000-07:00

Steve King/Stewart, "Fremont USA" (1986)

According to the insert notes, this is the official song of Fremont, California. Interestingly, it seems that in 1991 Mr. King/Stewart also co-wrote the official song of nearby Union City, CA. So this sort of song appears to be a specialty of his; unfortunately this cassette is the only recorded one I can locate either in the real world or via the inter-webs.

The cassette single is available here.

Imagine that this is my August post a few weeks early.

This Month's Vinyl Sharity

2010-07-01T10:10:00.000-07:00

Pawel Prokopieni, Twelve Old Russian Songs (Syrena Records, n.d.)

Pawel Prokopieni (18 August 1908-October 1976), a Polish bass-baritone, recorded a bit during the late forties and early fifties. During the war he worked for a while in the UK, often as part of the anti-Fascist cultural scene. He recorded at least one other album, Songs of Free Poland (MELODIA M 1002), and appeared in the 1943 film, Scottish Mazurka.

Here he is singing "Peleryna":

Side 1
1. Otshi Tshornye
2. Ei Uchnem
3. Ljubov Razboinka
4. Bajkal
5. Vanjka
6. Verevotshka

Side 2
1. Tshornye Gusary
2. Dvenadzat Razboinikov
3. Blocha
4. Spite, Orly Bojevye
5. Ach, Ty Dolja, Moja Dolja
6. Estj Na Volge Utes

Tracks available here.

A Very Special Cassette Tape Sharity

2009-04-02T09:39:00.000-07:00

Potentials Unlimited, Subliminal Persuasion Stop Smoking (Potentials Unlimited, 1978)

In case the album below doesn't do the trick, this rather worn, no-longer-stereo ex-library cassette might help you along. Bernie Konicov's Potentials Unlimited is still in business, and folk claim that his stuff works. There are two sides to the cassette: a day one for when you are conscious and a night side that you listen to as you drift off to sleep. The day side is all talk; the night presents soothing surf and new age music.

The tracks and artwork are here.

This should count as my December 2008 post. Ah, how quickly we fall behind.

Not My Vinyl Sharity

2009-04-02T09:31:00.000-07:00

The Living Strings, Music to Help You Stop Smoking (RCA, 1964)

While I have a copy of this LP, the very busy Zip Your Rip posted a fine version of this record back in August 2008. If you didn't obtain your copy of it then, please be sure to do so. Ah, "April in Paris"--well, it is at least April. And perhaps you'll manage to keep those ashtrays empty for just a while.

This link is to the post, not the file. It seems the download is still active and available, just check the comments.

Last Month's Thrift Store CD Sharity

2008-12-22T15:33:00.000-08:00

Various Artists, Taking Pride in Rochester (Impact Broadcast Marketing, >1990)

This CD documents the Rochester, New York, version of Impact Broadcast Marketing's "Take Pride in. . ." campaign. This advertising package simultaneously boosts both the local broadcaster and its community. Impact is headquartered in Nashville, TN, and this article notes that city's own example of this promotion.

Local station WOKR (now WHAM), Channel 13, bought into this concept. They are Rochester's number one news station, and veteran Anchorman Don Alhart appears on this disc, reading Rochester-specific introductory material before each wretched, generic "Up-With-Your-Town" tune. These songs are the bastard spawn of an Orwellian song machine programmed by an idiotic Nashville hack who dreams of--but may never enter--the Bluebird Cafe. Enjoy the tracks.

(Actually, Track 8, "Notte a Roma," is composed by Jeff Tyzik and performed by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Needless to say, it seems a little out of place here.)

The music is available here.

This Month's Thrift Store CD Sharity

2008-10-12T10:12:00.001-07:00

Goldie Hawn, A Lotus Grows in the Mud (Penguin Audio, 2005)

I don't usually provide CD rips, for a lot of different reasons that aren't necessary to recount. But, in my bargain thrifty searches, I came across a free copy of this abridged audio version of Hawn's autobiographical book (the actual discs are a library discard). As the audiobook seems to be unavailable on Amazon (leading me to think this might be out-of-print), I'll offer the tracks this month.

So, is it any good? I dunno, really. You see, I don't like audiobooks that much. And I don’t usually like (auto)biographies, either.

But a Hollywood audiobook? Doesn't that promise narcissistic, excessive, campy fun? Well, maybe. Narcissistic this is. But it is also played pretty straight. So, while Goldie is quite deep in thought here, perhaps as introspective and thoughtful as she'll ever be, it just isn't over-the-top, wacky fun. It sometimes seems quite maudlin.

Anyway, there's a lot of Goldie here: five discs worth, in three different zip files: one, two, three.

This Month's Vinyl Sharity

2008-09-11T07:18:00.000-07:00

W.E.B. Dubois, A Recorded Autobiography, Interview by Moses Asch (Folkways Records, 1961)

These recorded anecdotes by American man of letters and African-American activist W.E.B. Dubois (1868-1963) have a certain charm. Dubois is 93 years old by this time (and he sounds it with his whistling dentures), but it isn't a particularly nostalgic reminiscence (apart from some college memories of Fisk and William James). He makes it clear that life is full of failures as well as fears--particularly when it comes to money. But Dubois doesn't voice many regrets here, either.

Smithsonian Folkways offers these tracks via paid download, if you find this rip sonically challenged. (There were a couple unresolvable scratches on the second side: it is a library copy.) The Folkways site conveniently provides the cover art and insert, too. The tracks are here.

Folkways Records FH5511
Side 1
1. Early College Years, Fisk U.
2. Harvard U.
3. Germany
4. Atlanta U.
5. N.A.A.C.P.
6. "The Crisis"

Side 2
1. WW1, Pan-African Conference
2. Africa, & USA & Russia
3. Atlanta U.
4. NAACP and the UN
5. Peace Conference and the Trial
6. The Negro and Young People
7. The Negro and Africa Today

This Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2008-08-03T10:03:00.000-07:00

Little Jimmy Osmond, Killer Joe (MGM, 1972)

So, if Osmond was born in 1963, he's eight or nine when he recorded this. The issues one might have with this record have less to do with Little Jimmy himself than the very idea of giving an eight-year-old a solo project. Or, to put it another way, the adults are to blame here--and I'm looking at you, Mike Curb. Why would you have a child who might not be able to actually sing strain so hard to reach the high notes in the chorus of "My Girl"--resulting in a song so shrill you can't help but wish that Auto-Tune had been invented three decades earlier?

While I think "Long Haired Lover from Liverpool" remains in print--it was a 1972 Number One UK Single--the complete album does not seem to be. And, while you're thinking about how such a song could be that popular, remember it is Jimmy Osmond Summer in the UK right now (or at least it was in May). Turn on the radio, Gloucestershire! He's on John Rockley!

In America, the Osmonds mostly hover about in Third-Tier Casinos and Branson. No excitement over that concert DVD here: but like the rest of the world, we, too, can celebrate the career of the youngest Osmond, the former host of Branson Jubilee, and inventor of the Hummy Bear by downloading these tracks and album art.

Side 1
1. Killer Joe
2. Little Girls are Fun
3. My Girl
4. Mama'd know What to Do
5. Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear

Side 2
1. Long Haired Lover from Liverpool
2. If My Dad Were President
3. Tweedlee Dee
4. Mother of Mine
5. Rubber Ball

This Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2008-07-04T12:22:00.000-07:00

The Great Strings, The Great Strings Play Dear Heart & Goldfinger (International Award Series-Pickwick, [1965])

The label reads "Manufactured by K.M. Corp., Freeport, L.I." Long Island? That can only mean one label--Pickwick, just as New Jersey usually suggests Peter Pan. Oh, and it says Pickwick on the back of the album cover. The front of the sleeve claims that Scheherazade [sic] is on the LP: it isn't. And, for those who care, this seems to be a repackaging or rerelease of a Design Records-Pickwick album, all done for our friends at Sears Roebuck.

AK-256/DLP-195
Side A
1. Dear Heart
2. Emperor Waltz
3. Fascination
4. Merry Widow Waltz
5. Ciribiribin

Side B
1. Goldfinger
2. Estrellita
3. Habanera
4. Adios Muchachos
5. Nocturne

You'll find it here.

This Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2008-06-26T10:31:00.000-07:00

Here is a slightly different offering this month: five 45s I have recently acquired.

Number one: Matthew's Southern Comfort [Ian Matthews], "Ballad of Obray Ramsey"/"Woodstock" Decca 45 32774 (1970)

Looking at the single, "Ballad" is clearly the a-side here (it is from Second Spring), but the Mitchell cover was the Fall 1970 hit (it would appear on Later That Same Year). So I'm not quite sure of the release date--plus it seems to be a cut-out, with a punch-hole through the center label and disk. [7/15/10: Or not, according to Duncanmusic in the comments.] And, yes, he spells it Iain Matthews in real life, despite what Decca says.

Next: David Rose and His Orchestra, "The Theme from 'The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm'"/"Black and Tan Fantasy" MGM 45 K-13086 (1962)

I haven't seen this film--or at least I don't remember having viewed it, although I'm the right age--but I can't say much about Rose's theme. It is funny that the b-side is one of his "Stripper" compositions. It doesn't quite seem a natural paring.

Number Three: Roy Black, "Frag Nur Dein Herz"/"Good Night My Love" Polydor 45 52 728 (n.d.)

A search on the late German Folk-Pop artist Roy Black mainly results in links to Snoop Dogg's cover of "Schön ist es, auf der Welt zu sein." This 45 is unrelated to most of that.

"Frag Nur Dein Herz" sort of sounds like "The Lemon Tree Song." Just saying.

Number four: Frank Sinatra, (with the Reprise Children's Chorus, featuring Nikki Costa) "To Love a Child"/"That's What God Looks Like to Me" Reprise 45 29903-7 (1982)

This is apparently Sinatra's last 45 on Reprise. And it is among his last singles ever. I'm all for the resuscitation of the Reprise material--hey, I like Cycles--but I don't know about this Eighties stuff. It is a rather saccharine song, really. And the tie-in to Nancy Reagan doesn't make the song any more endearing, either.

The b-side was recorded in 1979, which is a fact worth knowing.

And finally: Hickory Ridge Band, "Drinking and Singing" /"Smokin'" Seagram's 7 International Battle of the Bands 45 IBB-82-13 (1982)

I'm sure the story of the 1982 Seagram's Battle of the Bands is a weird one (this gentleman competed with another, puppet-wielding, group; this guy was a Texas winner)--of course that was before Seagram's actually owned Universal Music, so I'm not sure what exactly the top winner received. According to this myspace page, a band named The South took "seventh prize" which allowed them "to record a single 45 as part of the prize with a thousand records pressed!!!" And Indiana's Southern Crescent recorded "If They're Women" as their single.

If this 45 is any suggestion, it seems the "Finalist" prize was to record a promotional song for the company. Although the same composer wrote both of Hickory Ridge's songs ("Smokin'" is an instrumental), the A-side should be titled "Drinking Seagram's 7 and Singing about It, Specifically Noting and Articulating the Brand Name." So perhaps the artist-winners revised one of their songs to have plenty of See-grams Whiskey references, or the B-side is really the winners' single, or both.

Tracks and covers are right here.

A Very Special Cassette Tape Sharity

2008-06-24T13:53:00.001-07:00

Suman Kalyanpur, Suman Geete, Volume 2 (EMI-HMV-Gramophone Company of India, 1983)

Before I was able to get my Indian Pop/Bollywood fix at Music from the Third Floor, I would occasionally buy discounted cassettes at the local Indian grocery. This is one of those tapes.

Kalyanpur is a well-known playback singer; there are many soundtracks and collections featuring her work. As Suman Geete Volume 1 is reportedly a Marathi-language collection, I assume this one is too. And while I can find a track listing for that first volume of Suman Geete, I can't for this one. If you can translate the insert, go for it. (One of the songs may be "Deha Shuddha Karuni.")

The sound is pretty bad on this one, worse than your average 25-year-old cassette. The recording standards seem to have been pretty low, and the tracks are clearly just taped from older records (you can hear the clicks and pops). Side one would only play in one channel, so it is now two-channel mono. The second side seems to have been recorded at a much higher level, and it seems oddly distorted.

Twelve unnamed tracks and cassette insert are here for the download. Consider this my May posting.

A Very Special Cassette Tape Sharity

2008-05-08T03:25:00.000-07:00

Edwina Lee Tyler, Drum Drama! Live from the People's Voice Cafe (Percussion Piquant, 1988)

As the title suggests, this cassette records a twenty-year-old concert by drummer Edwina Lee Tyler, educator and performer. Since the late-eighties, her work has continued unabated: she plays at elementary schools, teaching students about African musical traditions, and instructs drumming at festivals, womyn drumming schools, and various cultural camps.

A former member of an all-woman drumming quintet, she has also appeared on Broadway (in a supporting role as "drummer") and done some credited session work.

There are only five tracks on this tape. The first or "Cool" side is more contemporary (using a variety of semi-percussive instruments, including some sort of homemade hammer dulcimer) than the traditional drumming on the "Hot" side. I rather like the first track, "Dear Poppy," and "Wade in the Water" is a nice take on a familiar spiritual. "Wonders of the World" seems conceptually interesting, but Jawole Willa Jo Zoller's rhythmic breathing isn't miked well enough. The second side is dominated by the fifteen-minute "Ki Yak Ki Yak," which is quite nice.

The music is available here, with the insert art as well. Consider this my April posting.

Track-list:
The Cool Side
1. Dear Poppy
2. Wonders of the World
3. Wade in the Water

The Hot Side
1. Out of Bondage
2. Ki Yak Ki Yak

A Very Special Cassette Tape Sharity

2008-05-03T12:46:00.000-07:00

Jennifer, Copy Cat (Morningstar Recording, [1990])

The "Jennifer" on this cassette is actually pre-teen Jennifer Raymond (b. 1980), who for several years served as lead-singer or front-woman/girl for her parents' band, Morningstar. Former Hoosiers, the Raymonds are well known to the residents of Marco Island, Florida, as local teachers and public volunteers. And once in a while they reunite the band.

The family also owns a music store, Morningstar Music, in Naples, Florida. There's rather detailed family biography on the store website that provides a surprising amount of information.

So, Jennifer Raymond seems to have grown up and now performs at Walt Disney World, and, like her father, she runs. Her younger sister, Jessica, appears to have also fronted Morningstar, but she is studying to be an elementary schoolteacher. Perhaps there is a tape or CD of Jessica as well, out there, somewhere.

The cassette is what it is: competent juvenile singing and a respectable semi-professional band. The cover of "Material Girl" isn't bad, the title track could be worse, and "Vehicle" is certainly an interesting choice. The "rap" song is more than a little questionable, but it was the late-eighties: what do you really expect? There are some odd filler tracks that, if you didn't know that this was really a Morningstar project, seem a bit out of place (two guys from the band singing Righteous Brothers songs, and a track by Mrs. Raymond). They just don't fit in the the girl-pop theme.

The music, with insert art, is here, as usual. Think of this as my March posting.

Track list:
1. Copy Cat
2. Jackson 5 Medley
3. Sunshine of My Life
4. The Righteous Medley (Sung by Raymond Nesbit and Donald Tegeler)
5. See You Tonight
6. The Vehicle
7. Material Girl
8. A Vision of Love (Sung by Karen Raymond)
9. YO! Jessy

A Brief Note on Housekeeping

2008-05-03T12:37:00.000-07:00

Yes, I have not only been running late for a couple months, but now I'm really behind. I was so close to catching up, but a disk failure occurred, if you wish to know, just as I was masterfully editing the album covers. Good news for me--I lost very little (Try Carbon Copy Cloner, kids!). Bad news: the vinyl rips were lost. And who wants to start that over right away?

So there will be posts for March, April, and May, and a return to our usual schedule. However, you may notice some cheating.

Last Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2008-03-03T07:42:00.000-08:00

The Melachrino Strings, The Melachrino Strings Play the Tom Jones Hits! (Pickwick, [>1965])

This Pickwick album seem to be an American release of a Pye recording of the famous Melachrino Strings. George Melachrino died in 1965, so he isn't involved obviously.

Some sites report that Robert Mandell led the Strings after Melachrino's death. But the tracks on this album are conducted by Lad Busby, a Jamaican Trombonist who formerly played with Ted Heath's Orchestra, among others. Later on Busby had his own orchestra, it seems.

Conducted by Lad Busby
Recorded in England at PYE Studios, London. Produced by Bob Leaper.

SPC-3242
Side 1
1. Help Yourself
2. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
3. Love Me Tonight
4. Daughter of Darkness
5. Let It Be Me

Side 2
1. Delilah
2. It's Not Unusual
3. Green, Green Grass of Home
4. Olvidar
5. I Can't Stop Loving You

Arrangements:
Lad Busby: Help Yourself; You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'; Delilah; Green, Green Grass of Home.
Peter Knight: Love Me Tonight; Let It Be Me; It's Not Unusual.
Gordon Franks: Daughter of Darkness; I Can't Stop Loving You.
Bob Leaper: Olvidar.

Follow the link to download the mp3s and album art.

Last Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2008-02-29T08:49:00.000-08:00

Various Artists, Buick Presents. . . The Sound of Tomorrow (RCA Victor, [1963])

Here's a sampler album, distributed apparently by Buick dealerships. Dynagroove was RCA's mid-sixties long-playing format pre-mastered for poor stereo systems. But why summarize what you can read over here at Stereophile?

You can hear yesterday's sound of tomorrow today--just follow the link to the mp3s and album art.

SP/SPS-33-204
Side 1.
1. Peter Nero, "Londonderry Air"
2. Marty Gold, "Shangri-La"
3. Hugo and Luigi, "I'll See You in My Dreams"
4. Dick Schory, "Stompin' at the Savoy"
5. Sid Ramin, "Spring is Here"

Side 2.
1. Erich Leinsdorf, "Scherzo from 'Mahler Symphony No. 1'"
2. Arthur Fiedler, "Jalousie"
3. Robert Shaw, "Battle Hymn of the Republic"
4. Charles Munch, "Pavan for a Dead Princess"
5. Leontyne Price, "Un Bel Di"

This Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2007-12-12T11:00:00.000-08:00

Waylon Jennings, Music from "Mackintosh & T.J." (RCA, 1976)

An LP featuring music from Roy Rogers' last film, Music from "Mackintosh & T.J." presents nine country tracks, mainly by Waylon Jennings and his band, the Waylors. There's nothing wrong here; some of the instrumentals are quite nice really. And while I'm sure the vocal tracks must appear somewhere else, this album seems to be out-of-print.

RCA APL1-1520 Track list:
1. All Around Cowboy (Vocal-Waylon Jennings)
2. Back in the Saddle Again (Instrumental-The Waylors)
3. Ride Me Down Easy (Vocal-Waylon Jennings)
4. Gardenia Waltz (Instrumental-Featuring Johny Gimble with The Waylors)
5. Bob Wills is Still the King (Vocal-Waylon Jennings)
6. Shopping (Instrumental-The Waylors)
7. (Stay All Night) Stay a Little Longer (Vocal-Willie Nelson)
8. Crazy Arms (Instrumental-The Waylors featuring Ralph Mooney)
9. All Around Cowboy (Vocal-Waylon Jennings/Movie Track)

The album and really bad cover scans appear here.

Last Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity (I'm Late)

2007-12-03T18:28:00.000-08:00

Anita Bryant, Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory (Columbia, 1965)

Bryant is terribly wonderful on this LP: "OHHH Bee-you-ti-ful for Spay-shush Sk-eyes." Nothing is under enunciated, and not an Amen nor drumbeat fails to overdramatize what is already excessive. And, hey, listen around for trumpet call that House of Pain sampled at the beginning of "Jump Around."

1. Battle Hymn of the Republic
2. This is Worth Fighting For
3. In God We Trust
4. The House I Live In
5. This is My Country
6. The Star-Spangled Banner
7. America
8. God Bless America
9. The Power and the Glory
10. America the Beautiful
11. Onward, Christian Soldiers

The tracks and odd album photos are here.

This Month's Vinyl Sharity

2007-10-04T10:45:00.000-07:00

Screamin' Jay Hawkins and the Fuzztones, Screamin' Jay Hawkins and the Fuzztones Live (Midnight, 1986)

This is a great EP. The backing band is strong, and Hawkins is working the room. But the vinyl has problems with the first two tracks (Side A): about a minute into "Alligator Wine" and about two into "I Put a Spell on You," there are uncorrectable skips. The other two tracks (Side B) are fine, if you're looking for a live version of Hawkins's Midnight-pressed Christmas tune "It's That Time Again" and a five minute version of "Constipation Blues." Perhaps you are.

It seems that this blog offered these tracks back in 2005, but I didn't get them then—how sad. I wonder if they were skip- and scratch-free. Here is where I found the fine cover scans both included with the tracks and used above.

You can find the four tracks and album art here.

Not My Vinyl Sharity

2007-10-03T18:22:00.000-07:00

Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Feast of the Mau Mau (Edsel, 1988)

I just picked up a copy of this UK double-album reissue at the local record shop and was half-way through the vinyl rip, when I thought that I might be able to find some of the album art on-line. Yes, there's a fine reproduction of the sleeve—and the gatefold. And, best of all, all the tracks are included, too; another chunk of time saved. The links are of course to the blog, not the downloads themselves.

Again, I don't know where I was last July, but this is yet another excellent musical offering from Twilightzone!

These tracks were originally released as What That Is! (Philips PHS-600-319, 1969) and Screamin' Jay Hawkins Is In Your Mind (Philips PHS-600-336, 1970).

This Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2007-09-16T15:13:00.000-07:00

Poco Loco Guitars Plus Brass, Love Songs South of the Border (Power/ Apple Honey Series, <1966)

This undated budget release is pretty much a mystery: the act and label aren’t well-known, and there’s not a lot of information on the web. There are two other Poco Loco albums; all are on the Power/Apple label. Love Songs seems to be their second release. The first is Si, Si, Señor Bandido (Apple Honey 399), and Lightly Latin (Apple Honey 401) is the third. This site claims that Lightly Latin is a 1966 release. Power/Apple Honey also had another Latin Brass act called the Bravado Brass. Their album Brass Busters was Power/Apple Honey 411. Perhaps they were the same studio talent.

As for this album, while there are guitars, there’s also a lot of piano; it just isn’t a very guitar-focused production. I suspect that this is a generic in-house studio jazz combo; they do the Latin flair pretty well, but there’s no way these performers would call themselves the Poco-Loco Guitars.

As for this budget label, Power/Apple Honey seems to be related to a SPC of Newark NJ. A Power Records was later a sister label to Peter Pan Records, which also was headquartered in Newark. Maybe these Powers are the same; Peter Pan had a couple of relatively generic “adult” labels in the 1990s, too. Now the company is called InspiredCorp, selling adult fitness material as well as kid’s records.

The album tracks and art are available here.

Poco Loco Guitars Plus Brass, Love Songs South of the Border
Power/ Apple Honey Series S-400 (SPC, Newark NJ)
Side 1: Adios Marquita Linda; Estrellita; La Paloma; Noche de Rondo; Cielito Lindo
Side 2: Amor; Besame Mucho; Sabor Ami; Magic is Moonlight; Maria Elena

This Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2007-08-15T07:57:00.000-07:00

Enoch Light and the Light Brigade, I Want to be Happy Cha Cha’s (Grand Award Record Corp., 1958)

There’s a lot of Enoch Light out there in the land of vinyl sharity, but I haven’t seen this one (at least not recently). As you can tell from the label, this is one of his pre-Command efforts. The great vinyl blog Rangeraver offers a bunch of Enoch Light LPs, including this Command cha-cha record and the Grand Award follow-up to this album.

Track list:
(Side One)
1. I Want to be Happy Cha Cha
2. Tremendo Cha Cha
3. Tea for Two Cha Cha
4. Lover Cha Cha
5. Yes, Sir That’s My Baby Cha Cha
6. The Sheik Cha Cha
(Side Two)
7. Chiquita Cha Cha
8. Sweet and Gentle
9. Cara Mia Cha Cha
10. How High the Moon Cha Cha
11. Patricia
12. Guaglione

The .zip archive is available here.

This Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2007-07-23T10:12:00.000-07:00

Rustix, Bedlam (Rare Earth-Motown, 1969)

Rustix (or “The Rustix,” depending if you go by the album notes and record label) are a Rochester, NY, pop-rock group mainly known as the first all-white band to be signed to a Motown label, in this case Rare Earth.

The claim seems a little imprecise to me: Rare Earth released their first Motown album before Rustix, as did The Pretty Things. Perhaps it is more accurate to say that they were the first Anglo band to debut on a Motown label (or maybe Rustix signed their contract before everyone else did--but Motown did name the label after Rare Earth, which succinctly documents that band’s early presence).

According to this site, Bedlam spent two weeks on the charts, peaking at number 200. There was a second album in 1970, with singles released into 1971. A mysterious third album was said to have been recorded but never released. You can dig their cool Holiday promotional shot here, and there’s a whole flickr set on the band, by a child of bassist Ron Collins.

Rochester had a number of promising 1960s bands who managed to get label deals, but never quite achieved national prominence. Given the area’s size, there really seems to have been a lot of talent. However, there doesn’t seem a site devoted only to the Rustix, and I don’t know what led to their break up.

Updated 7/15/10: Commenter "Dave" writes the following concerning the band's dissolution:

"The Rustix disbanded due to conflicts within the group and the stresses brought on by the difficulties in producing a hit record. After replacing their departed drummer, Dave Colon, their sound changed significantly. They recorded "We all end up in boxes" but the record was never released. The group broke up in 1972." Thanks for the details, Dave.

Chuck Brucato, songwriter and co-frontman (with Albe Galich), turned to jingle-writing and production, and he seems to have done well. Guitarist Bob D’Andrea owned a comedy club for a while. This gentleman apparently briefly played with or for the Rustix. And, although he does not appear in the Bedlam line-up, Sam Nicolosi says he was a member and has returned to performing with his son, according to this article.

This out-of-print album is pretty worn, so be prepared, and enjoy this .zip archive.

Last Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2007-07-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

Morton Subotnick, Silver Apples of the Moon (Nonesuch, 1967)

This is a relatively well-known electronic composition (designed specifically as an album-length work) by living American composer Morton Subotnick. You may have heard of him. This album, no longer in print in the US, is available as an import CD at Amazon and at Subotnick’s own website. According to this site: “The exciting, exotic timbres and the dance-inspiring rhythms,” of Silver Apples, “caught the ear of the public -- the record was an American bestseller in the classical music category, an extremely unusual occurrence for any contemporary concert music at the time.” It is a pretty cool, abstract piece.

This 2005 page here at Head Heritage, by The Seth Man, pretty much explains what this album is like, as well as the hows and whys of its creation. I feel no need to repeat The Seth Man’s accurate and insightful review.

Read the Amazon reviews: people love this work. Similarly, Woebot says, “Side B is justifiably classifiable as the original techno record, grasping before (m)any recordings electronics' motorik power.” Even these folk like the composition.

A somewhat scratchy version is available here as a .zip file.

This Month's Vinyl Sharity

2007-05-30T10:51:00.000-07:00

Les Djinns Singers, 60 French Girls Sing Encore (ABC-Paramount, 1961)

I don’t know much about this album--it is another rip my late father-in-law made. Les Djinns Singers (AKA “60 French Girls”) made several albums for ABC-Paramount, of which this is the second, but as to who they were, under whose guidance and production, well, I dunno. One fact: they are an all-female French chorus.

I don’t even have a copy of the album cover; instead I’m using the partial illustration provided by Ernie (Not Bert). The real cover has two horizontal stripes (one red, one blue) at the top noting the title and artist name.

Track-list for ABC/ABCS 368: 1. Tom Pillibi/Monsieur Mistral, 2. Papa Aime Maman, 3. Nos Belles Annees/Poco & Poco, 4. La Cage, 5. Song From Moulin Rouge, 6. Top Tip Top, 7. Dans Ma Prairie, 8. La Mer, 9. Marion, 10. La Fenetre Du Monde.

[7/15/10: A commenter says that the first track only contains "Monsieur Mistral," so beware.]

The album is here as one .zip file.

This Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2007-04-23T05:59:00.000-07:00

Roy Orbison, Cry Softly Little One (MGM Records, 1967)

Cry Softly Little One is generally thought of as one of Orbison’s better MGM releases. There are a number of tracks co-written by Orbison and Bill Dees, and some of them are pretty good. I’ve always liked “Communication Breakdown,” for example, but partly because of its pre-Zeppelin title and ripped-off “Wichita Lineman” introduction. Both “It Takes One (To Know One)” and “That’s a No No” are pretty competent pop songs, nicely produced. In general, the album seems confident: there are only a few instances of trying to cite or copy the Monument releases (the title track is guilty of that, though). And, as we’re still in the same decade as those earlier hits, Orbison’s work seems less a matter of nostalgia than of style: you can hear how the MGM stuff really is part of that larger oeuvre.

This album is available as an import CD.

Track list (*written by Roy Orbison and Bill Dees): She*; Communication Breakdown*; Cry Softly Little One; Girl Like Mine; It Takes One (to Know One)*; Just Let Me Believe; Here Comes the Rain Baby; That’s a No No*; Memories*; Time to Cry*; Only Alive

Tracks and album art are available here in a .zip archive.

A Bonus Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2007-03-15T10:36:00.000-07:00

Maxine Brown and Pearl Bailey, Maxine Brown Meets Pearl Bailey (Sutton, >1960)

This undated budget album presents four tracks by Maxine Brown followed by six Pearl Bailey songs from someone’s back catalogue. As Brown had a hit with “Funny” in 1960 (on the Nomar label), and some version of the track appears here, I guess this LP appeared sometime after that single.

I’ve posted some well-used material in the past, so take my word for it: this album is pretty worn. Side B is a bit better than side A; sounds like this record was originally purchased by a Brown fan. But Bailey’s “Paris Blues” and “Cadillac” are pretty good.

The .zip file is available here, via usual hosting service, as always.

Track list for Sutton release SSU 341:
Side A: 1. Funny; 2. All in My Mind; 3. Harry Let’s Marry; 4. Now That You’re Gone; 5. That Certain Feeling; Side B: 6. Solid Gold Cadillac; 7. Hit the Road to Dreamland; 8. Haiti Blues; 9. Paris Blues; 10. I’m Through with Love

Not My Vinyl Sharity

2007-03-12T08:08:00.000-07:00

Mundell Lowe, The Original Soundtrack from Billy Jack (Warner Brothers, 1973)

In a pile of records that I have yet to convert to mp3s, there rests a copy of this album. But, because it has twenty-one relatively short tracks, it is hard to get enthusiastic about doing either the transfer or the share. But in this forum right here someone (“Jim”) has been nice enough to provide rapidshare links to the LP as part of a larger “dex,” as the young people call it. [7/15/10: "The European Dream" is long gone, my friends. Link removed.] The tracks are clearly from beloved vinyl as well-used as my own copy, but they’re all there. You might need to do some slight additional tagging (for the artist, among other things), but the tracks are correctly titled in the right order. There’s no artwork, but some very bad scans appear above.

This Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2007-03-02T16:11:00.000-08:00

Paul Horn, Visions (CBS-Epic, 1974)

Canadian jazz flutist Paul Horn is often considered one of the fathers (or grandfather) of new age music; I haven’t heard any of his “Inside” albums (at least not knowingly), but they are well received, and Horn is still producing the kind of jazzy world-music-influenced instrumentals associated with New Age.

This album appeared fairly soon after Horn left Hollywood, and with that the major labels, for Vancouver, where he continued producing independent albums more along the line of his current work. His study with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and devotion to Transcendental Meditation, apparently led him to this change.

This album features pop/rock/folk covers: it is very smooth jazz, and not all that new age. Visions, then, is more of a transitional album, marking an approach that Horn abandoned to pursue those “Inside” albums and other collaborative projects. David Crosby’s “Long Time Gone” is pretty good (though “Guinnevere” is sort of dull), and aspects of the Mitchell songs seem really inspired. (Joni Mitchell herself provides background vocals for “Blue”--she isn’t singing lyrics so much as adding to the layered soundscape.) But the Wonder cover sounds really derivative: the backing vocals are too similar to the original for me. All the tracks are super-competent, though.

A lot Horn’s albums are available, even his early-sixties jazz works. But this one seems to be out of print. Perhaps he and Epic had a nasty falling out.

Track list: Too High; Guinnevere; High Tide; Long Time Gone; Blue; Chelsea Morning; Visions; Song with No Words; Dida; Living for the City

The album, in Scratch-Y-Sound, and some rather crude cover scans are here at usual.

This Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2007-02-14T15:22:00.000-08:00

The Electric Hair (Robert Byrne), Electric Hair (Evolution-Stereo Dimension, n.d.)

This undated Moog LP appeared on a label owned by watchmaker Longines Wittnauer (there's some trivia). Vinyl Vulture, who lists a really impressive catalogue of Hair-related instrumental albums, thinks this album has “quirky charm”:

“With the exception of ‘Be In (Hare Krishna)’ and ‘Hair,’ the album steers clear of Perrey-esque Moog bleeps and electronically generated fart-noises and instead concentrates on quality electronic composition; check out ‘Let The Sunshine In’ and ‘Walking In Space’ for more examples of how it can be done properly.”

Apparently there was a 45 release on Phillips as well.

And that’s pretty much all I have to offer on this record. Some people have it for sale (on Festival--but what does “Track 1 only” mean?), and other people just proudly own it.

Track list: Side A: 1. Aquarius, 2. Easy to Be Hard, 3. Good Morning Starshine, 4. Three-Five-Zero-Zero, 5. Donna; Side B: 1. Be-In (Hare Krishna), 2. Frank Mills, 3. Let the Sunshine In, 4. Walking in Space, 5. Hair.

You may find one .mp3 & album art .zip file here, as usual.

Not My Vinyl Sharity

2007-02-14T05:07:00.000-08:00

Percy Thrillington, Thrillington (Regal Zonophone, 1977)

I don't know where I was when this album was first posted at WFMU's Beware of the Blog, but it has been my favorite download of the past month. So, if you haven't checked out the tracks, let me suggest that you do. You're probably over at WFMU for the 365 Days project anyway.

A Very Special Cassette Tape Sharity

2007-01-08T15:53:00.000-08:00

Thomas Dolby, Music from the Film "Gothic" (Virgin, 1987)

This is a cut-out cassette from back in the day. As much as I love Ken Russell--and between Wilde's Salome and Lair of the White Worm, he was on quite a roll in the late eighties--I just don't like Gothic.

Thomas Dolby's scoring was one of the relatively effective aspects of the film, and he notes here an anecdotal history of the project. It seems that this soundtrack has lapsed out of print.

The individual tracks are very hard to isolate off this cassette, so I have taken the lazy move of making each side one fat track. I also provide a spare copy of the ending title, "The Devil is an Englishman" (vocals by Timothy Spall, who played Byron in the film), as a third bonus track, in case you want the single. It also appears at the end of the long "side two" track.

One .zip file with cassette art is available here. [Link removed.]

This Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2007-01-01T14:26:00.000-08:00

Frankie Carle, His Piano, and Orchestra, 12 Double-Barreled Hits of '64 (RCA, 1964)

Frankie Carle, the Italian-American band leader and co-composer of “Sunrise Serenade,” was (at least according to this page) in semi-retirement around the time this album was released. But 12 Double-Barreled Hits doesn’t present the smallish combo he reportedly had in the late-fifties and early-sixties. Instead, this is part of his “soloist” phase, but the backing orchestra's intense presence makes the songs somewhat more than a solo effort.

Carle’s career would re-kindle with the seventies nostalgia wave, but probably not because of the kind of work recorded on this disc. Here we have completely competent, but sometimes generic, instrumentals from the mid-1960s. It is a broad mix: a couple of Mancini compositions, show tunes, "movie" Elvis, and slightly obscure standards. Carle isn’t credited with the arranging or conducting: RCA’s Larry Gordon is.

Obviously, the cover’s shotgun motif drew me to this LP.

Tracklist: Charade; Java; I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now; She Loves Me; Always in My Heart; The Pink Panther Theme; Sushi; Oh! What It Seemed to Be; My True Carrie, Love; Kissin’ Cousins; Miller’s Cave; Hello, Dolly!

The album and cover scans are available right here.

Not My Vinyl Sharity

2006-12-15T08:28:00.000-08:00

I've had a copy of this album, A Midnight Christmas Mess, for close to twenty years, and I was going to rip and post it for the holidays--but The Tuna Melt has beaten me to the punch! I recommend this album for the wonderful Screaming Jay Hawkins track, "It's Christmas (Time for Giving)," which is super-fantastic, the girl-group Wednesday Week's "Christmastime Here," a celebration of yuletide Manahttan (and a critique of the holiday experience everywhere else), and The Point's "On Comet," which is just sweet reindeer-oriented pop. Following proper etiquette, I'm linking the blog, not the link. So let me encourage you to visit, do some reading, and get the album.

The Tuna Melt also has Midnight's two sequel albums, which I am presently enjoying. [7/5/10: Updated links to blog post.]

This Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2006-12-03T08:47:00.000-08:00

Various Artists, RCA Victor Pop Shopper (RCA, 1955)

This label sampler is pretty much what it claims to be: a bunch of mid-fifties popular music free of Rhythm-and-Blues and Rock-and-Roll. There are some nice selections--the Como isn't that bad, there's Prado, and who doesn't like Eartha Kitt? The Geller seems to be part of a really weird, ambitious project, and the Natural Seven is pretty fun. I thought the Hank Snow to be a particular treat.

Track listing:

1. It's a Good Day - Perry Como with Mitchell Ayres' Orchestra and The Ray Charles Singers
2. The Rivers - Harry Geller and His Orchestra
3. They All Laughed - Jaye P. Morgan with Hugo Winterhalter and His Orchestra
4. Corrine, Corrina - Chet Atkins
5. Jack's Kinda Swing - Al Cohn's Natural Seven
6. France: Le Rêve Passe, Auprès de Ma Blonde, Il Était une Bergère - The George Melachrino Orchestra
7. Hey Jacques - Eartha Kitt with Henri René's Orchestra and Chorus
8. Voodoo Suite (Part I) - Perez Prado and His Orchestra, Featuring Shorty Rogers
9. Cuba Rhumba - Hank Snow, The Singing Ranger, and His Rainbow Ranch Boys
10. Solo for Joe - Sauter-Finegan Orchestra
11. The Wayfaring Stranger - Eddy Arnold
12. Pump - Milton Hinton

The .zip file is right here at the usual place.

This Month's Vinyl Sharity

2006-11-12T12:25:00.000-08:00

Roy Orbison, Regeneration (Monument, 1976)

Roy Orbison's early-Sixties recordings on Monument are some of my all-time favorite records; in those four or five years, he cut one great single after another. If you look at the following eight or so years that he was with MGM, the work never received the same kind of success, commercially or critically. At least Orbison Records is trying to make some of the material from the MGM-years a little more available.

So you can understand why, after his stint with MGM ended in the early 1970s and an album with Mercury didn't do too well, Orbison returned to Monument to recapture some of the magic. Or at least try to do so. But it was fifteen years after he first joined the label.

While this is sort of a nice mid-seventies country kind of record, there are some problems. First, Orbison doesn't have a single song writing credit here--and there's no Bill Dees, either. Second, almost none of the songs take advantage of Orbison's other, obvious asset: his voice. The closing "Belinda" tries to, but it seems more like an afterthought. That said, I really like the opening "(I'm a) Southern Man" and even the country-pop "Can't Wait." And there's a broken-hearted quality to all the tracks that seems consistent with Orbison's earlier work (and later, in fact).

Track list: (I'm a) Southern Man; No Chain at All; Old Love Song; Can't Wait; Born to Love Me; Blues in My Mind; Something They Can't Take Away; Under Suspicion; I Don't Really Want You; Belinda.

All .mp3 tracks & some album art are available here in a .zip archive.

A Few Words about Housekeeping

2006-11-12T11:45:00.000-08:00

The big move from rapidshare.de to .com has been a little odd, between the German servers no longer taking uploads to the rather ambiguous way in which you had to change accounts. It didn't help that my account renewal coincided with some of this nonsense. Anyway, it seems that my new .com account doesn't automatically renew my .de hosting (which is understandable), so some of the links below will expire within the month. I will eventually re-host them with rapidshare.com.

This Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2006-10-01T07:38:00.000-07:00

Montana, A Dance Fantasy Inspired by Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Atlantic, 1978)

This is one of two albums recorded for Atlantic by Vincent Montana, Jr. Aficionados of the Philadelphia Sound will recognize him as one of the geniuses behind the SalSoul Orchestra (up to about 1977 or 78) and the present mastermind behind the label Philly Sound Works and its Philly Sound Orchestra. And it seems he was a member of MFSB, too. His work is groundbreaking and classic: where's there disco--uh, dance--music, Montana's influence can be heard.

This album presents a full-side 15:45 masterpiece: a disco summary of the plot of Close Encounters. With seven movements (tied to specific scenes, such as "The Toys Come to Life," "The Child Communicates," and "India"--but, sadly, no "Big Mashed Potato Model of Devil's Tower") and a finale, the dance floor must certainly become cinematic in a way that Meco never dreamed. Montana plays it pretty seriously, though--the track is too earnest to really be a novelty piece. And at this length, the "Fantasy" probably didn't get much airplay (perhaps a radio edit is out there somewhere).

The second side is more SalSoul-like: some original compositions that are competent, if occasionally unmemorable, and an odd "sci-fi" cover of "Fly Me to the Moon."

I think this is out of print entirely. All track and bad cover scans are available as one .zip file right here.

This Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2006-09-10T04:47:00.000-07:00

Herschel Bernardi, Herschel Bernardi, TV's Lovable "Arnie," Sings Broadway's Greatest Hits (Columbia/Harmony, 1971?)

The LP title immediately raises the question: was "Arnie" lovable? Was Herschel Bernardi "lovable" in his depiction? While the series was on for two seasons, and I am just old enough to possibly remember it (but I don't), I can't really find a clue anywhere out there on the internet. No one seems to clamor for those episodes to be released on DVD; no clever connoisseur has posted grainy clips on YouTube. (I wrote too soon--some people seem to remember.) However, the 1970 sitcom spurred Columbia to spit out a reissue of this album (aka "Show Stopper"), for whatever reason.

I had thought this might be a vanity project, a Golden Throats kind of thing. It isn't. Bernardi has real Broadway credentials: he was Zorba, and he can sing (although he strains a bit with "Try to Remember"). But this album is more than just a collection of show tune covers, because Bernardi gives us an entire cabaret performance with special autobiographical banter and warmed-over Borscht shtick. For example, he joneses for approval in the opening number, "Applause"--why? well, he's from a theatre family, he tells us. Significantly, he also provides himself with that applause, literally, at the end of the album when he reprises the song: that lovable "Arnie" is going to get his fix no matter what. There are other half-jokes about his need to "show off" his talents--a drive that results in productions like "Fugue for Tinhorns" where Bernardi ("thanks to the 16 track" recording deck) sings all three parts in different 1950s-style Brooklynese accents. It is simultaneously show-boatingly impressive and crazy-making.

If you like these tracks, note that they are available as "Show Stopper" in a combo CD including Bernardi's songs from "Fiddler" (he was a popular Tevye, too). Copies of the LP versions of both "Stoppers" and "Arnie Sings" are out there; this site thinks the rerelease was in 1974. No way--the show was long canceled by then.

Ten tracks and troubled cover scans are all in one .zip at our usual hosting service.

Last Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity (I'm Late)

2006-09-09T13:10:00.000-07:00

Faron Young, Faron Young Sings on Stage for Mary Carter Paints (Mary Carter Paints, <1965)

[7/15/10: Some text has been inadvertently edited. This will be corrected later.]

legal history, and then became Resorts International).

Now it isn't the Opry exactly, although at this point Young is still a member (until 1965), but the revue is very Opry-like: friendly banter, some hits, some filler, and corn-pone comic Archie Campbell recites his malapropic "Cinderfella."

Endless Mike recently featured Young's first two albums, and some of those hits--"Hello Walls"--appear here, too. There are occasionally copies of this LP for sale, and, as it figures, WFMU seems to include it among its playlists.

There's no track listing for this album, and the sides don't really edit well, so we're dealing with two full-side mp3s, with cover scans, for download.

This Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2006-07-31T16:16:00.000-07:00

The Singers Unlimited, A Capella 2 (1975)

Most people, like Oscar Peterson, know The Singers Unlimited because of their very popular Christmas Album.

As the title suggests, this album is the second release from Gene Puerling's studio vocal group.

While the album isn't available on its own , tracks--most notably "Clair"--do appear on their Masterpieces compliation.

And there's a box set of all their work during the 1970s, if you like this less-than-perfect vinyl LP rip.

The album and troubled scans of the cover art appear here. [Link removed.]

Yes, I am a bit tardy this month.

This Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2006-06-19T07:04:00.000-07:00

Barry De Vorzon and Perry Botkin, Jr., with vocals by Melanie, Chris Morgan, and Christopher, R.P.M. Original Soundtrack (Bell Records, 1970)

The album cover and, as it turns out, most of the marketing materials make a big deal of providing an asterisked note reminding us that R.P.M. stands for Revolutions Per Minute. An obvious fact, hardly worthy of such promotional grandstanding. But wait--there's a subtle point being made, for we're not talking about that rotating turntable, but the issues of social and political revolution so intrinsic to the film's late-sixties campus setting.

Of course, school protests do not a revolution make, but as I haven't seen the movie, I'll reserve judgment. However, there are pretty clear signals as to the general approach of R.P.M. For example, Ann-Margaret stars as the graduate-student girlfriend of Anthony Quinn's college president (that's appropriate). The soundtrack includes a song titled "We Don't Know Where We're Goin'" (As in, hey, where's all this rebellion leading us? Um, away from a failed military strategy, maybe? Into a more inclusive representational political practice? Oh, I'm sorry. ). The album tracks themselves suggest a plot climax surrounding a riot and no doubt some lessons learned thereafter--I just wonder if there is some sort of token death involved, the sacrifice of an innocent or, better yet, a radical who recants on his or her deathbed.

Neither IMDB nor The New York Times seem to like the film much, but this site thinks it is an also-ran among the great cult films of the 1970s. If that really were true, wouldn't Karen Black be in it?

The soundtrack is okay: I'm not a big Melanie fan, and she has two songs on side one. The Christopher and Chris Morgan tracks remind me of vocalists on those old Pickwick cover albums--competent studio efforts. blaxploitation.com likes a few tracks, mainly "All Night Long" and "The Riot" on side two, and reminds us that De Vorzon composed "The Theme from SWAT" (which was one of the first 45s I ever bought, oddly enough).

The tracks, in Scratch-Y-Sound, along with the art, are in one .zip file. [Link removed.]

This Month's Vinyl Thrift Store Sharity

2006-05-23T09:02:00.000-07:00

Eddie Costa and Art Farmer, In Their Own Sweet Way (Premier, n.d.)

Here's a nice seven track jazz LP, stereo version, although it may have been recorded in mono originally. Costa, who played piano and vibes, died in 1962--his family seems to be in charge of this discography that includes nice reproductions of his album covers.

As this page on the Verve site notes, most of Costa's work is out of print, and it seems this album is as well. Oddly, this rather nice discography of Costa's session work doesn't list this record at all. I can't find a Premier Records discography (it doesn't help that there's a new Christian label by that name), so I don't know the album's recording date.

Art Farmer emigrated to Austria in 1968, according to this biography, and died in 1999. He, too, has a decent if occasionally obscure discography. This album seems unnoticed in the web pages devoted to his career.

It is all here. [Link removed.]

This Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2006-04-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

Curtis Knight, Down in the Village (Paramount, 1970)

Curtis Knight, or Curtis McNear as this album's writing credits reveal, had a long career in R&B and the Blues. However, some of the music history sites seem to confuse him with Curtis McNair, a doo-wop vocalist and part of the post-1952 Fuqua Ink Spots.

But I don't think he's the same guy: it compresses the timeline too much in the early sixties as Knight formed the Squires. This site provides a short biography, a decent discography, and some nice photos of Knight in concert. It also features photos of Knight's grave.

Updated 7/5/10: Actually Knight/McNear/McNair are one and the same. Knight's wife, Kathy Knight-McConnell, writes the following in the comments to this post:

"I was with Curtis Knight for 16 1/2 years. Together we owned the Golden Sphinx Record label and Knight Management and Production Co. Curtis definitely sang with the Ink Spots, the Titans, the Love Notes and others. There is no confusion. Curtis was born Mont Curtis McNear but changed his singing name to Curtis McNair early on (after his cousin Barbara McNair). When he left the service he changed his stage name to Curtis Knight, although in his very early years he used Curtis McNear. I hope that clears it up for you."

Yes, it does.

Knight's work with Jimi Hendrix is perhaps his most well-known; I suspect that this is session material along the lines of Hendrix's work as part of Little Richard's and James Brown's band, most of it rereleased as "Hendrix" material once the Jimi Hendrix Experience became popular.

This album, which seems to predate Knight's move to the UK and the formation of his band/project "Curtis Knight, Zeus," suggests a bit of the psychedelic Hendrix Experience, though in a good way, I guess. (Hey, a copy of this album just sold on eBay for $20.50.) The songs have a real New York sensibility to them--hence the whole "Village" concept. But this isn't all peace and love, mind you: "Friedman Hill" tells a tale of murder and regret. Other sadness is recorded as well.

There's a similarly titled Decca LP with a few more cuts, but that may be a UK release. By the way, Knight is featured on the collaborative album "Blues Root," which is still in print.

And Kathy Knight-McConnell reminds us that her biography of her husband, Curtis Knight Living in the Shadow of Jimi Hendrix, is available for purchase.

Here are the usual .zip files (mp3 and album art): side one and side two.

This Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2006-03-08T11:43:00.000-08:00

Claude Bolling, Borsalino (Paramount, 1970)

Here's the soundtrack from Jacques Deray's 1970 French gangster buddy movie, Borsalino.

According to Tana Hobart, of the All Movie Guide:

Based on a Eugene Saccomano novel entitled The Bandits of Marseilles, this movie was followed by a sequel entitled Borsalino and Co. This movie captures the mood of 1930 Marseilles beautifully with the use of ambience and music. Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo portray two gangsters who kill their way to the top.

I've never seen the picture, but from the lobby cards, there seems to be a quite a bit of violent mobster hi-jinx. It seems the sequel is even more violent.

Borsalino is actually a hat maker. I guess the mobster fedoras somehow connect to the title. Perhaps the world of Italian hat-making is incredibly violent: who knows?

The soundtrack is by Claude Bolling, the French composer who worked on several of Deray's films. It attempts to transport us to the 1930s by relying on a lot of honky-tonk piano. In general, it reminds me of Hamlisch's Scott Joplin score for The Sting (1973), although Borsalino predates it. Supposedly Bonnie and Clyde (1967) is an influence on Deray, but I don't really remember much about that film score (it featured some Flatt and Scruggs).

The album, with art, is available as two .zip files at rapidshare.com: side one and side two.

A Very Special Cassette Sharity

2006-02-18T12:12:00.000-08:00

Presenting Baron Pryde's Cosmic Dreams (Star Machine Records, 1989)

Here's a strangely high-concept independent, dare I say "amateur," project rather similar to the material our friend Pastor McPurvis provides at his beloved vinyl orphanage. The artist and band aren't exactly clear here, although the narrative interludes (yes, the ones that put each song into context as part of the album's larger, progressive story) clearly attribute it all to the title character, Baron Pryde. Is there such a band or even person? I suspect not, but on my cassette copy, it turns out that the whole project is copyrighted by John P. Gaudio. He, I suspect, is the mastermind behind this project.

So the album's narrative frame centers on the "Space TV" interview of Baron Pryde, who, for several decades, has become the universe's number one "space rock" star. But the people of his home planet (that would be Earth) despise and fear him, although he is number one with a bullet on Alpha Centauri. Apparently he was jailed for some sort of rock-related crime, but freed, and then sort of jailed again, and along the way met a magical space woman who stole his heart. Will he find true love and bring rock-and-roll back to Earth? If I told you, it would be cheating.

From the description above, you might suspect a tendency in this album to present, say, a love song as a "space love" song, as if the addition of one simple adjective casts a spell of wonder and sci-fi wizardry over the project. Indeed, that is the strategy, as exemplified by the weirdly catchy "Searching for a Space Girl," and "Goldilocks was a Space Chick," about which I cannot comment fully. But the Baron also has a fondness for futuristic technological song titles, like "Atomic Lover," and "My Cyberg [sic] Lover," and the unusual "Synthetic Man," which includes this heartbeat-like buzzing percussion.

Other titles seem a little more generic, such as the ambitious "Rock Invader." How does that fit into the Baron Pryde mythos? Well, as his "space rock" career reaches one of its many peaks, "with the universe at my fingertips," the Baron says, "I didn't think of myself as a conqueror. [. . .] I was an invader-- a Rock Invader." There may be a subtle difference in the metaphors, but you'll have to listen to be sure.

I come across this tape frequently at the Rochester, NY-area thrifts. Despite the fact that I don't think Baron Pryde actually was a locally performing act, the talent behind this project is real--there are members of the 1980s Rochester band Backseat Sally (which briefly became a national recording act) and a bunch of session people from the old PCI studios (Spyro Gyra recorded there).

This can be had as two .zip files at rapidshare.com: one and two.

This Month's (Not Quite Thrift Store) Vinyl Sharity

2006-02-18T10:37:00.000-08:00

Werner Müller and His Orchestra, Songs of Joy (London/Phase 4, n.d.)

The US album art is a bit misleading: this isn't world, African-American, or African-European music. Instead, Müller's extrememly competent orchestrations, as noted here, rule the day. But then again, if you knew the label and orchestra, you wouldn't be confused anyway.

There seems to be an alternate cover that in its mood and subject is almost in direct opposition to the US art.

I cannot find the date for this record anywhere. It looks early 1970s. But this list of Phase Four recordings, and this one, too, do not provide any clues.

This, too, is a legacy rip from my father-in-law's collection. [Link removed.]

This Month's (Not Quite Thrift Store) Vinyl Sharity

2006-01-01T09:11:00.000-08:00

The Dukes of Dixieland, Breakin It Up on Broadway (1961)

My late father-in-law, despite owning quite a few computers for god-knows-what-reason, had one of those expensive CD-R recorders that you hook up to your stereo, and he copied a number of his old LPs. Most of them aren't quite along the sharity line, but here's a fairly rare one.

Frank Assunto's Dukes of Dixieland were stereo LP superstars on the Audio Fidelity label. This Columbia album, however, appears during the band's "pop" period in which the Dukes give standards (or sub-standards, depending on the song choice) the ol' Dixieland treatment. The album is certainly up-tempo.

A version of the band continues to perform today.

The album, with some versions of the cover art, is here as .zip files. [Links removed.]

This Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2005-12-01T13:02:00.000-08:00

Original Cast, Sunshine (Original Television Soundtrack) (1973)

This offering is a soundtrack from the 1973 television movie, Sunshine. It spawned a short-lived television series, Sunshine, which aired on ABC in 1975. IMDB lists the latter as a comedy, but that does not seem quite right, unless it was some sort of "dramedy." I don't really know; I've never seen an episode, nor am I familiar with the movie.

The television movie can be summarized as following (from IMDB):

A young woman living in the woods with her husband, a struggling musician, and her daughter discover she has terminal cancer. She begins to tape-record a journal of the time she has left.

This is apparently based on a true story, that of Jacquelyn Helton.

The soundtrack features Cliff DeYoung singing, over and over, "Sunshine" and a couple other John Denver tunes, interspersed with show dialogue and the "diary entries" of the dead/dying mother, played by Christina Raines (who also performed as Tina Herazo in the wonderfully horrible 1972 or 73 film Hex). The whole Sunshine affair is supposed to be very romantic and maudlin.

DeYoung's musical abilities aren't that surprising--he was Brad (and Farley Flavors) in the underrated Rocky Horror sequel Shock Treatment (1981) , after all. Oddly, actor and musician Billy Mumy is listed in the cast credits, but he doesn't seem to have a track on the LP.

The individual tracks on this LP are really short, so I've made it available as two longish single-side tracks. The second one has an unredeemable scratch: be prepared. Sides one and two are available for download.

A Thanksgiving Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2005-11-24T12:04:00.000-08:00

Syntonic Research, Inc., Environments Disc 4 (1974)

Here's another Environments LP: it is all about the rain and its remarkable delivery system. Hope the holiday is pleasant for everyone in the states, and happy thursday to the rest of the world.

Two half-hour tracks at rapidshare.com: "Ultimate Thunder Storm" and "Gentle Rain in a Pine Forest."

A Bonus Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2005-11-22T11:41:00.000-08:00

Syntonic Research, Inc., Environments Disc 11 (1979)

There are apparently a number of these mid-to-late 1970s records, providing soundtracks of all sorts of experiences, natural (the violent thunderstorm on Environments 4 that my college roommate would fall asleep to) and perhaps less natural (for example, a NYC "Be-In" and a wood-masted sailboat). Most people claim that there are eleven in total.

Lord Lucan writes the following in his review of the disc including a group "intonation" and the sounds of a "Summer Cornfield":

The ‘Environments’ series of records emerged in the mid-70s and most of them have yet to get a CD release. They occupy an ambiguous position between these two types of ambient soundworld. However, they should not be mistaken for those cringe-worthy CDs that are beige woodchip New Age twaddle mixed with whalesong. ‘Environments’ are recordings of natural phenomena, seamlessly electronically manipulated and processed to increase their psycho-acoustic impact. So, we don’t have a real-time ‘sound effect’ type recording, but neither is there much evidence of a composed musical recording with an artistic intent at its core.

A quick look at the album cover confirms this. The testimony on the back cover positions the albums as some sort of combination of acid and valium, either relaxing the listener of transporting him or her to a land far away, or at least a few miles distant. The front cover, with the female silhouettes, seems more bachelor-pad than most of the Environments covers, which usually provide a straightforward picture of the environment recorded. Perhaps Syntonic Research, the creator(s) of the series, were looking to crank up sales by insinuating another use for all that pseudo-psychedelic relaxation.

Syntonic Research reportedly still exists, but they don't have much of a web presence. Environments 3 "Dusk and Dawn at New Hope, PA" seems to have had a CD release according to at least two reviews. I particularly like the review about the veracity and clarity of the bug sounds.

This album has two tracks, each a half hour in length: "Alpine Blizzard" (called, more accurately, "Wind/Hail Storm" on the label) and "Country Thunderstorm" ("moo," "baa," "ka-boom") They are at the usual host, of course.

This Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2005-11-02T08:20:00.000-08:00

Rod McKuen, Rod McKuen Takes a San Francisco Hippie Trip (1960-ish)

As a kid, I first heard of Rod McKuen through those old references in A Doonesbury Treasury, where Joanie and Reverend Whomever go see a McKuen concert together. And, of course, later in college those McKuen albums littered the used bins of record stores and thrifts (more the latter) and his books frequent the thrifts and garage sales. But I don't think I really understood McKuen's amazing career as a performer who straddled the line between kitsch and what most people think of as high culture. Though he's now sort of known as a singer-songwriter (and occasional actor), McKuen was, at least for a short time, a popular poet, a really popular "pop" poet. I cannot think of an equivalent personage today, in part because of McKuen's broad (read: "square") generational appeal (Henry Rollins, to provide an unusual but I think apt example, isn't mainstream enough to bear comparison).

Of course, there are reasons to dislike McKuen: he did write the lyrics for "Seasons in the Sun," which an acquaintance of mine once called "the worst pop song of all time" (it isn't). And McKuen does seem to play the sage a bit--although that is sort of his gig; and he does seem to do so without the slightest trace of camp or irony. I'm not sure his audience always shares that sincerity.

This album, undated, doesn't appear in his official discography. Perhaps it is a repackaged version of Beatsville, but I don't know. (Update: yes, it is. Rod himself tells the story.) And according to a review on Amazon, this version is edited and bowdlerized!

If you like this album, check out the McKuen webstore, and don't forget that Rod will perform in Utrecht this December.

The album, with artwork, is here in two rapidshare.com .zip files: one and two.

A New Year's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2005-10-06T07:49:00.000-07:00

Paul Zim, Jerusalem Forever! Disco Fever of the Chassidic Kind (1977 or later)

This posting is a few days late, but what could be better than some late-seventies Hebraic disco to add to your celebrations before atonement sets in? Paul Zim, "the Jewish Music Man," gives us three dance tracks to lift the spirit as well as your dancing shoes.

The EP can be downloaded here.

This Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2005-10-01T13:52:00.000-07:00

Various Artists, All Ears (1977)

Now, this isn't an alligator station, so feel free to bring it back in the comments below. But here's the 10-34.

This album comes from our friends at RadioShack: All Ears celebrates America's love affair with Citizen's Band radios by having a number of studio musicians present original pop and country songs. A couple of these songs occasionally turn up in WFMU's playlists.

"Night Ranger" dates the album as 1977. While I'm sure RadioShack had stacks of this LP lying around well into the early 1980s, I suspect it has an earlier composition date: the comedic story-teller's Vietnam references in "L.J.'s Radio" the wouldn't really capture the late seventies zeitgeist. On the other hand, C.W. McCall's "Convoy" was released in 1975, which would more or less encourage RadioShack's odd let's-sell-CB radios-by-releasing-a-record strategy. And Roctober's impressive listing of Chipmunk and Chipmunk-like tracks insists that the album opener "Hey Shirley (This is Squirrley)" had a previous life as a 1976 GRT single. Maybe the other songs have similar stories behind them: "L.J's Radio" could be an older composition; I can imagine that "Honey Bee, Please Answer Me" had a previous life as a CB-reference-free song at one point. So perhaps 1977 is the correct release date.

I suggest you get yourself a Colorado Kool Aid or a Cup of Mud and enjoy this fine LP.

It should be clean as a hound's tooth to rapidshare, where you'll find two .zip files with the album art at rapidshare.com, side one, and side two. So drop the hammer and get 'em.

So amigos, all the good numbers. Down'n gone.

A Bonus Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2005-09-24T09:13:00.000-07:00

Chad and Jeremy, Chad and Jeremy Sing for You (1965)

The duo's second US release, this album comes to us from the Pittsburgh, PA label, World Artists, a firm that Chad himself remembers as having an "almost Mafia-like atmosphere." I find the orchestration on Sing for You a little heavy-handed for the folk-pop vocals--and the choice of material doesn't always seem quite right for the Now Generation. Because of this, I started to suspect the project entirely: even Chad's cover notes seem as artificial and insincere as the LP's production.

But no. After visiting their official website, I can see that Chad isn't insincere--or at least he's terribly consistent. The album isn't really a proper one, and they eventually grow into the kind of singer/songwriters they pretend to be in Sing for You. According to Chad and Jeremy, this album is out-of-print, although a lot of their stuff isn't, and they are still touring and recording. Their soundtrack to 3 in an Attic is clearly a potential vinyl sharity coup: too bad I've never seen it.

This album was extremely popular with its previous owner, so audio quality suffers accordingly. The LP, in Scratch-Y-Sound, is in two .zip files with cover art. [Links removed.]

This Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2005-09-03T15:01:00.000-07:00

Nancy Wilson, Just for Now (1967)

This album caught my eye mainly for its cover of "Winchester Cathedral," a song that I recently had heard playing somewhere, and I couldn't shake it loose from my mind. I'm, of course, talking about the invasive New Vaudeville Band version (do-do-duh-lee-oh): Nancy Wilson's version, while a little shrill, at least works against the song's inherent syncopation. (And, no, this isn't the CSN song or the Clinic album.)

At first glance, the record isn't really all that promising: covers of "Alfie" and "Born Free" (which I had never though of as a John Barry song, but I can see now--how obvious) don't really seem inviting. But "I'll Make a Man of the Man" is pretty strong, "That's Life" really grows on you, and "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" suggests that Wilson has some real R&B chops that might have made a stronger impact in her work. A decent album, it is no longer in print like a lot of her Capitol LPs. Because Just for Now is more or less a pop album, not too many of these tracks (I don't think any) have even made it to any of the recent Jazz-focused Capitol anthologies of her work. But most of the album is Billy May arranged, so you might find something worthwhile.

This LP is in two .zip files at rapidshare.com: side one, and side two with album art.

A Back-to-School Cassette Sharity

2005-09-03T14:15:00.000-07:00

Fresh Bush and the Invisible Man, Hard Times (1992)

I don't know what I was doing buying a cassette single in 1992, especially as this was available as a CD single, but what can I say? Anachronistic as this is, I do like the line, "If we can change the world, we can change America." Ironic and sentimental, it seems to fit the times now, too.

Download this out-of-print song here at RapidShare.

This Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2005-08-12T08:47:00.000-07:00

Uncredited Artists, Flick Themes '72 (1972)

This is the usual Pickwick bait-and-switch value LP: covers of your favorite soundtrack themes. The notes on the back of the sleeve celebrate the composers and the films, never quite acknowledging that the songs aren't from the original score.

That said, some of the versions are perfectly competent orchestrations, and a couple have vocals. "Cabaret," however, seems to be a bit heavy on the kazoo—although some people might find that a wacky plus. And music from A Clockwork Orange seems a rather unusual choice for what I suspect is this LP's target audience.

The mp3s and cover art are available in this .zip file.

A Very Special Cassette Tape Sharity

2005-07-29T14:35:00.000-07:00

Pearl Harbour, Don't Follow Me, I'm Lost Too (1980)

This cassette was in a cut-out bin in the long-gone Woolworth's across from the Governor's Palace in Santa Fe; it was 1983, and I, a college freshman, was desperate for something to play on my old Panasonic RQ-711S tape player (mine was yellow), having left my turntable at home. The title was barely in print in '83, and it hasn't reappeared.

According to Michael Sutton's biography, "Pearl Harbour" also performs as "Pearly Gates":

"Pearl Harbour & the Explosions was one of the first American new wave groups. The band was formed in San Francisco in 1978 by vocalist Pearly Gates, guitarist Peter Bilt, bassist Hilary Stench, and drummer John Stench. The group became a Bay Area favorite and was an integral part of a fertile new wave scene that also spawned Romeo Void, Translator, and Wire Train. Gates was once a background dancer for the Tubes and after she quit, she joined Leila and the Snakes, eventually renamed Pearl Harbour & the Explosions. In 1979, the band released the single "Drivin'." Even without any promotion, the record sold more than 10,000 copies. The group was signed to Warner Bros. that year. However, the group's self-titled debut LP was not a commercial success. Pearl Harbour & the Explosions released a second album, 1981's Don't Follow Me, I'm Lost Too, and then disbanded. Gates started calling herself Pearl Harbour and went solo. In 1995, she collaborated with East Bay Ray (guitar) of the Dead Kennedys, recording Here Comes Trouble. Along with Stinky Le Pew (guitar), Lee Vilensky (bass), and Mike Hunter (drums), they headlined the 1998 Psychobilly Festival, resurrecting the Explosions' infectious new wave energy and thirst for fun."

The more authoritative Trouser Press entry reminds us that she also performed as "Pearl E. Gates" (which seems to be her actual name) and calls Don't Follow Me "a memorable instant party." This site lists Pearly Gates (perc, vocals), Otis Watkins (piano), and Nigel Dixon (guitar) as the session artists for Don't Follow Me--not the Explosions line up, which sounds more accurate.

Robert Christgau wrote the following mini-review in the 5 October 1981 Village Voice:

"PEARL HARBOUR: Don't Follow Me, I'm Lost Too (Warner Bros.) The rockabilly that Clash/Dury factotum Mickey Gallagher gets out of Pearl's anonymous sidepeople is crude and often a little leaden. But beyond the rare genius singer (Elvis, Jerry Lee) or player (Charlie Burton, Jerry Lee), rockabilly was always more attitude than fillip anyway, and for all their slap-bass oomph and sly guitar modernisms, I think the main reason the oft-praised Stray Cats like the style is that it lets them cover the borderline-racist "Ubangi Stomp." It's a little different when this half-Filipino woman--that's g-u-r-l, boys--reshttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifurrects "Filipino Baby" and "Fujiyama Mama" and then adds her own songs about sex manuals, fear of dentists, and "Everybody's Boring but My Baby." I mean, I do believe that's a punk chip on her shoulder, which in 1981 is the kind of wood I want to knock on. B PLUS."

He gave Beauty and the Beat a B+, too.

You can find another version of Harbour singing "Fujiyama Mama" on the Clash live-album/former bootleg Tokyo Riot.

I just want to give a shout out to IceRocket, the search engine that really out-Googled itself to find some of the material above.

Here's a .zip file with the tracks & "cover" art at rapidshare.com.

This Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2005-07-12T07:50:00.000-07:00

"Joy!" Apollo 100 (1973)

There are a couple large boxes of records in the far back corner of a local Goodwill. No prices are posted, and the employees regard the boxes with more than mild irritation. An older gentleman announced to the woman at the counter, "I must be the only person who looks through these," to which she assented with a snort.

Of course, he wasn't the only person to dig through the boxes. This record was forty cents, which seemed reasonable.

This isn't a bad LP. "Joy" is clearly the centerpiece--I get the impression that it was a 1972 single first, followed with this album. Parker's classical arrangements seem pretty consistent--although the saxophone-heavy "Air for the G String" sounds a little out of place. The original material varies, too. "Late for the Sky" sounds suspiciously like "Joy", and the latter half of each side I can take or leave depending on my listening mood.

Lycos Music presents the following biographical information on the "band"--mainly a bunch of session musicians.

Amazon has their "Golden Instrumental Hits" for sale, but it seems only to feature "Reach for the Sky" from this album, but this CD collection is very original-compostion heavy. The pricey import, "Joy: Best of Apollo 100," features all of these tracks and more--but the cover art is far less cool. But if you wish for better audio versions of these works, do go buy.

Track listing.
Side 1: 1. Joy (Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring); 2.. Mad Mountain King (Hall of the Mountain King); 3. Mendelssohn's 4th (Second Movement); 4.. Libido; 5. Jazz Pizzicato; 6. Tamara Side 2: 1. Reach for the Sky; 2.. Evil Midnight (Danse Macabre); 3. Air for the G String 4. Exercise in A Minor 5. Classical Wind

The cover art and all tracks (recorded in Scratch-Y-Sound, of course) are available here as two big zip files at rapidshare.com, one containing side one, the other with side two and the album art.

Buy Buy Pizza Pie

2005-07-11T16:35:00.000-07:00

Buyer's Guide: O Lucky Man! Original Soundtrack. Music and Songs by Alan Price. (1973)

When I came across this LP in a church rummage sale rack, I was a little surprised (the congregation didn't seem all that hip)--and excited, because I thought this soundtrack was out of print. But no, it isn't: the movie is (at least in the US). Old Warner Home Video VHS copies are out there in half.com-land, but I don't see any DVD. Too bad, because in the trilogy along with If. . . and Britannia Hospital, O Lucky Man! is a great film.

Price's soundtrack reinforces rather didactically the agitprop satire of Anderson's film, and it also serves to unify the rather loose, picaresque narrative. You can sort of get a feel for this in the soundtrack itself, but it isn't really necessary. The rock-funky, singer-songwriter tunes really hold their own: sort of The Animals (with whom Price played) meet Randy Newman.

You can find more about Alan Price here:
http://alanprice.absoluteelsewhere.net/

Amazon lists the soundtrack here as an import (with Real Audio snippets)

and here as a cut-out.

And here is a Scratch-Y-Sound vinyl cut from the soundtrack: [Link removed] "Sell Sell."

If you like it, do go buy it.

This Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

2005-06-21T13:48:00.000-07:00

Actually, I just bought this for 20 cents (!) at last Friday's Unitarian Church rummage sale.

From 1958, this Roulette album features Mr. Niven reading the love letters of Flaubert, Mark Twain, Napoleon, and others. I don't fully get the project: is it a weird white fifties equivalent of a Barry White album? I find it hard to see this as a _literary_ album, like some older spoken word stuff. But perhaps Lincoln's rhetoric, among others, can provide us with a model by which to phrase our own passions for the beloved. Maybe it is about appreciation.

The actual track list is as follows:

Side A: 1. Mark Twain to Livvy; 2. Napoleon to Josephine; 3. Franz List to The Countess; 4. Abraham Lincoln to The Other Mary; 5. Percy Shelley to Mary Godwin; 6. Henry VIII to Anee Boleyn.

Side B: 1. Gustave Flaubert to Louise; 2. Richard Wagner to Minna Planner; 3. Ludwig Van Beethoven to The "Immortal Beloved"; 4. Robert Browning to Elizabeth Barrett; 5. Edgar Allen Poe to Mrs. Helena Whitman; 6. Robert Shumann to Clara.

This LP is a scratchy one, with each side as one whole super-romantic mp3. The two together with the album art are one big .zip file at rapidshare.com.