Goober says hey! Hope you readers in the tri-county area are enjoying this early bit of winter weather we're having which I gotta say sure brings out the bah humbug in me! Sheesh, we didn't even get to have a fair autumn and now it's raining ice and snowing with those below-freezing temperatures that usually have me snuggled up in bed with my hot water bottle and teddy bear to keep me nice and toasty! But still, colder weather does mean more indoor fun 'n jamz which allows me to engage in my favorite pasttime, and that's something I sure could use during these rather busy if chilly times! And in case you've wondered, my current fave pastime just happens to be reading my DENIM DELINQUENT collection while listening to old Siouxsie and the Banshees and Lew Lewis-era Eddie and the Hot Rods tapes. Really works for me in a downhome spiritual way, and maybe it will for you too!
All kiddin' aside (like I could even aspire to being the new Joe Fernbacher), I think I put out a fairly good effort despite the usual barriers I have to contend with. Like the fact that I am a piss poor excuse for a writer even if I do like to deliver on my better'n anything you'll read these days opinions and have done so for a good thirty-seven years awlready. Not gonna let my stilted style stop me one bit, egotistical yet dutiful rock 'n roll fan I am and will most certainly remain!
Creative Healing-LOW EFFORT SOCIAL EVENTS LP (Feeding Tube Records, available here)
Hearing the sax/violin duel upon needle placement I was automatically thinking Plastic People of the Universe, or at least one of those seventies-era Czech "manicka" groups that were fans and followers of the band. Good enough assessment, but Creative Healing go even further what with their spurts of avant jazz ecstasy and total eruption reassessment of various late-sixties until early-eighties efforts like (as the hypesheet says) Men and Volts which does come pretty close to the core. But Creative Healing have an even broader approach to their handling of post-Beefheartian efforts filtered through just about every local nutjob drugcase holed up in Anywhere USA (and beyond) who thought they were the local Frank Zappa. Here I go thinking the entire world had gone cyborg, and up comes this left fielder!
The Velvet Underground-NEW YORK REHEARSAL 1966 CD (Sutra Records)
Figures that this "live FM broadcast" of Velvet Underground rehearsals would be the same Andy Warhol Museum tape that's been fluttering around for the past twenty years! Well, at least it's kinda/sorta legal and cheaper'n it used to be albeit it sounds pretty feh next to the other versions I've heard. If you don't have those, then have this!
But is re-re-repackaging old sounds for new ears a good excuse for the powers that be to withhold even more of those crucial unreleased Velvet Underground tapes from us? An' you know who "us" is...us undying fans who were in on the game a whole lot longer'n those giddy alternative music upstarts, diehard followers who DESERVE to hear those rarities and like right now! I mean, many of us were up and about during the days when you couldn't even FIND Velvets recs (especially the Cotillion releases) at the reg'lar shops and special ordering usually brought up goose-eggs as well! If you didn't hafta wait YEARS to find someone who could tape you a copy of THE VELVET UNDERGROUND AND NICO you were a normal sort of maniacal fan now, weren't you, because I sure hadda wait and wait until I could find those efforts and then I didn't have the money to get 'em! C'mon you avid bootleggers---find those rehearsals and live gigs and press 'em up for a more'n anxious public and IMMEDIATE-LIKE, y'hear???
('n why did they hafta slap one of those overused live photos onna cover yet again because I for one am SICK of lookin' at it! Sheesh, when dingbat magazines use such snaps you know it's nothin' but HACKNEYED!)
Greg Malcolm and Stefan Neville-A NUANCE LP (Feeding Tube Records)
I never got to hear much of those eighties-era New Zealand groups other'n the Chills, but from what I have heard I found 'em to be pleasant enough popsterisms even if bathed in a twee sorta syrup. Nowadays I think the sweetness has gone for good if these two vets are any indication. This particular nuance consists of diestorted cheap guitar and not-so-hi-fi music that takes such classics as "The Beat Goes On" and "Telstar" as well as a slew of country and ethnic-styled tuneage and makes 'em sound as if you left the tuner set on "aux". The results are as mystical-sounding as anything that gnomes weaned on rock 'n roll could dare put out and like, I do find the mix 'n match quite suck-you-in like anything Barrett ever did. Might be a good outta nowhere hit with you, but I dunno...
Joe McPhee-NATION TIME CD (Corbett Vs. Dempsey Records, available here)
You kinda get the idea that this 'un's gonna be one of those all-out BYG-styled freeform wigouts upon hearing McPhee's opening call to arms, but NATION TIME has more to do with the new movements in post-bop expression a la Dolphy or Coltrane than they do with Archie Shepp's revolutionary expression. Swings from the Coltrane quartet to hotcha funk on "Shakey Dance" (dig the guitar lines of Dave Jones, ne'er to be heard from again as far as I can tell!) while getting your soul way deep into the glory of the bonus tracks including a faithful take on the Big C's "Naima". Good for at least a listen or two before it gets lost in that pile of Cee-Dees in your fart encrusted bedroom.
Etron Fou Leloublan-LES POUMONS GONFLES CD (Gazul Records, France)
This early-eighties album portrays a more commercial Etron Fou than had been heard previously, but there's still enough RIO strangeness to make LES POUMONS GONFLES one recording that might appeal to not only the high brows who go for that European stuff but lighthearted aficionados who'll try anything just once, other'n rump wrangling that is. Thankfully these Frenchmen (and Frenchfemme) retain that weird sense of humor in their otherwise could end up pretty STODGY work, and if you went for all of those late-seventies Captain Beefheart-influenced acts that were popping up and about there's no reason why you shouldn't fall for this 'un as well!
Melodic Energy Commission-MOON PHASE COMPENDIUM CD (Vapor Records, Canada)
Had whatcha'd an interest in these Canadian crazies for quite some time (or at least since their MIGRATION OF THE SNAILS album was being hawked by Systematic), but only just now got up the guts to get this double duty compilation of both Melodic Energy Commission platters. Despite calls to the contrary, I found this weirdo Hawkwind spinoff to actually work wonders despite the various proggy effects and a generally hippoid attitude it might exert once in awhile. Gotta say that the mix of oscillating whirlygigs and clanging Fourth World percussion adds up to some mighty mystical jazz sounds, and even if parts do sound like Yes outtakes that were just too tame for Jon Anderson to stomach it ain't like you're gonna throw up your arms in disgust! Y'see, if you stick around some hard rock jamz just might be in store and I'm talkin' the kind that don't bore ya as well! Former Hawkwind/Pink Fairy/Deviant Paul Rudolph appears on one track which makes this effort all the more exciting (at least to early-seventies hard rock aficionados like myself).
Peter Holsapple vs. Alex Chilton-THE DEATH OF ROCK CD-r burn (originally on Omnivore Records)
Wow, whaddaya know but...RECENTLY DISCOVERED PETER HOLSAPPLE AND ALEX CHILTON RECORDINGS MADE AT SAM PHILLIP'S STUDIO IN 1978!!!! They sure sound it too...Holsapple does his best to bring back ALL of those early-seventies AM British Invasion revival sounds to the point where even a few notes of this could raise Greg Shaw from the dead, while Chilton is the crackpot self he was on LIKE FLIES ON SHERBET even doin' an instrumental version of "Heart and Soul" which makes me wanna laugh my head off the way he goofs through the thing switching keys at a second's notice 'n all. Sure brings back fond memories not only of the inspired "new wave" that was the underground rage at the time but the magazines like NEW YORK ROCKER and even KICKS (circa. their first issue) which championed these sounds. A total outta nowhere surprise that sure reminded me of why music like this sent vibrations of hope and success throughout my nervous system back in those best/worst of time (as they all are) days!
Bill Justis-RAUNCHY & OTHER GREAT INSTRUMENTALS CD-r burn (originally on Sun Records)
Yeah, you know just why I decided to review this 'un, eh? It's because of the gal onna cover, THAT'S why!!! But other'n that you jagoffs will find more than just a li'l funtime pleasure when you plunk the needle down or slip the disque in and getcherself some boffo late-fifties (mostly) instrumental offerings from the "Raunchy" guy himself. Hotcha mid-South rumblings that'll remind you of just why the first age of rock 'n roll had this deep, burning, underlying strain of intensity that never really transposed itself to the giddy early-seventies "nostalgia" craze that reduced it all to inanity.
Bobby & Laurie-HITCH HIKER CD-r burn (originally on Parlophone Records, England)
As Paul McGarry once said, you can't judge a record by looking at its cover and no truer words have ever been uttered. You might think these Bobby and Laurie guys to be some simpy singing duo like Simon and Garfunkel, but in actuality they were more like a kinetic Everly Brothers or atomic Chad and Jeremy playing the mid-sixties Big Beat sound without compromising their total eruption to please the li'l girls. Well, this sure ain't the MC5 I'll grant ya, but for a long-haired singing duo whose music wasn't swamped by strings and overproduction Bobby and Laurie sure don't come off like a pair of bobbysoxer boobs, y'know?
Del Shannon-SHOW ME ED CD-r burn (originally on Liberty Records, France)
Shannon might not-a-been hittin' the way he used to when this '66 EP came out, but he sure hits with me the way he romps his way through four Snuff Garrett-produced efforts that were culled from either THIS IS MY BAG or TOTAL COMMITMENT...not too sure which one. As is evident from these recordings Shannon was still in top notch form, but at this stage in the game that early-sixties style was slowly slipping by and like, just how could a guy like this compete with them mop tops anyway??? Still, a great sampling of some solid rockaroll done up by a first-generation legend and like, maybe you lumpen new muzak types out there oughta lissen to the guy an' pay some HOMAGE, y'hear?
The Animals-ANIMALISM CD-r burn (originally on MGM Records)
Hmmmmmm...mebbee this 'un should go into that year-end roundup of more familiar platters that I gave a play to throughout the year. Naw...I'll stick it here because not only is ANIMALISM a newie to me but because well, I did have this particular page up and I don't wanna spend time tryin' to find the one with the rest of the platters that might be a little too familiar for my every-week posts!
Still a goodie what with Mr. Scrambled himself Eric Burdon and crew working their way through a whole buncha covers including the hit single "Hey Gyp" and "Shake" not to mention a number of blooze that fit the group rather swimmingly if I do say so myself. Interesting tracks include Frank Zappa's "All Night Long" (from which I could only spot the riff from "No Matter What You Do" as far as any familiarity goes...in fact I thought this was gonna be that closing track from the Ruben and the Jets FOR REAL album!) and Muddy Waters' "Louisiana Blues" which I had previously known as "Gone Behind the Sun" on the Zappa/Beefheart CONFIDENTIAL bootleg...just goes to show ya that even a well-educated and much respected rock "historian" like myself can learn something new once in awhile!
Various Artists-SPIRO LAGER BRITTLE FLUID CD-r burn (Bill Shute)
To say that this gaggle of groans might have just MADE MY WEEK would be an understatement, but gosharoonie if this "Bill Burn" didn't do just that! Lotsa hotcha flotsam here from a flexi disc for the NW Lads label outta Philadelphia which really showcased the teen sounds to Gene Marshall plugging the 1968 Republican ticket are but some of the highlights...you can also get some cheap soul crankout from Alvin Cash and commercial neo-fusion jazz from Guizado which just goes to show you how cornballus seventies music could be (and how fantastico punk rock sounded in comparison). Not forgetting A WHOLE BUNCHA RADIO ADS THAT REALLY SWING!...ever hear Bob Segar plug the USAF or Jimmy Witherspoon Lucky Lager? Well now you can as well as osmose the slowed down hardcore of Public Disturbance (weird lead guitar in that one!) and the Raiders' promo record for Mattel's new "Swingy" doll!
For me the highlight of this set was the appearance of "Act 1" by the Fulminate Trio, a NYC "Downtown" aggregation that surprisingly enough is up and running 'stead of a memory long gone. These guys play avant garde free jazz neo-fusion if you can fathom that, and they do a spiffy job of it judging from this particular extended romparoo. If they were around in the early oh-oh's you woulda been you'd be seein' 'em on the CBGB cybercasts emanating from the Lounge portion of that club during Dee Pop's old Freestyle series of events...but you can still hear 'em via the Unseen Rain label and if I weren't so dad busted broke I'd be doin' what you undoubtedly are and spend a few shekels for their wares this very same minute! You missed out on the Hanuman Ensemble and Freedomland...don't miss out on these guys!
***Kinda hefty number o' reviews this go 'round, undoubtedly because I decided to skip what I had in store last time for this 'un and it growed and growed to rather Holmesian dimensions if I do dare say. As you might have sussed out already, I didn't have the chance to do a proper post last week what with all of the outdoor yardwork I hadda get in in-between real life salt mine duties, but at least I made up for it not only with that bootleg piece I delivered on last time but this magnificent batch of beauts that'll have you sayin' "CHRIS IS THE NEW MELTZER!" (or something like that) in no time flat!
All kiddin' aside (like I could even aspire to being the new Joe Fernbacher), I think I put out a fairly good effort despite the usual barriers I have to contend with. Like the fact that I am a piss poor excuse for a writer even if I do like to deliver on my better'n anything you'll read these days opinions and have done so for a good thirty-seven years awlready. Not gonna let my stilted style stop me one bit, egotistical yet dutiful rock 'n roll fan I am and will most certainly remain!
***RIP STAN LEE, creator of such timeless comic book classics as HOMER THE HAPPY GHOST, PETER THE LITTLE PEST and GEORGIE which featured characters that will live on at least in the bottom reaches of my collection. Sorry, no Steve Ditko-length sendoff for you Stan, but that doesn't deter from...uh...somethingorother.
***And so, here's this week's bunch and a hearty hi-ho slivver must go out to Feeding Tube Records, Bill Shute, Paul McGarry and NO ONE ELSE for the items which have been donated at their expense. Hope these wonderments keep you nice and happy throughout these rather slushy days...
Hearing the sax/violin duel upon needle placement I was automatically thinking Plastic People of the Universe, or at least one of those seventies-era Czech "manicka" groups that were fans and followers of the band. Good enough assessment, but Creative Healing go even further what with their spurts of avant jazz ecstasy and total eruption reassessment of various late-sixties until early-eighties efforts like (as the hypesheet says) Men and Volts which does come pretty close to the core. But Creative Healing have an even broader approach to their handling of post-Beefheartian efforts filtered through just about every local nutjob drugcase holed up in Anywhere USA (and beyond) who thought they were the local Frank Zappa. Here I go thinking the entire world had gone cyborg, and up comes this left fielder!
***
Figures that this "live FM broadcast" of Velvet Underground rehearsals would be the same Andy Warhol Museum tape that's been fluttering around for the past twenty years! Well, at least it's kinda/sorta legal and cheaper'n it used to be albeit it sounds pretty feh next to the other versions I've heard. If you don't have those, then have this!
But is re-re-repackaging old sounds for new ears a good excuse for the powers that be to withhold even more of those crucial unreleased Velvet Underground tapes from us? An' you know who "us" is...us undying fans who were in on the game a whole lot longer'n those giddy alternative music upstarts, diehard followers who DESERVE to hear those rarities and like right now! I mean, many of us were up and about during the days when you couldn't even FIND Velvets recs (especially the Cotillion releases) at the reg'lar shops and special ordering usually brought up goose-eggs as well! If you didn't hafta wait YEARS to find someone who could tape you a copy of THE VELVET UNDERGROUND AND NICO you were a normal sort of maniacal fan now, weren't you, because I sure hadda wait and wait until I could find those efforts and then I didn't have the money to get 'em! C'mon you avid bootleggers---find those rehearsals and live gigs and press 'em up for a more'n anxious public and IMMEDIATE-LIKE, y'hear???
('n why did they hafta slap one of those overused live photos onna cover yet again because I for one am SICK of lookin' at it! Sheesh, when dingbat magazines use such snaps you know it's nothin' but HACKNEYED!)
***
I never got to hear much of those eighties-era New Zealand groups other'n the Chills, but from what I have heard I found 'em to be pleasant enough popsterisms even if bathed in a twee sorta syrup. Nowadays I think the sweetness has gone for good if these two vets are any indication. This particular nuance consists of diestorted cheap guitar and not-so-hi-fi music that takes such classics as "The Beat Goes On" and "Telstar" as well as a slew of country and ethnic-styled tuneage and makes 'em sound as if you left the tuner set on "aux". The results are as mystical-sounding as anything that gnomes weaned on rock 'n roll could dare put out and like, I do find the mix 'n match quite suck-you-in like anything Barrett ever did. Might be a good outta nowhere hit with you, but I dunno...
***
You kinda get the idea that this 'un's gonna be one of those all-out BYG-styled freeform wigouts upon hearing McPhee's opening call to arms, but NATION TIME has more to do with the new movements in post-bop expression a la Dolphy or Coltrane than they do with Archie Shepp's revolutionary expression. Swings from the Coltrane quartet to hotcha funk on "Shakey Dance" (dig the guitar lines of Dave Jones, ne'er to be heard from again as far as I can tell!) while getting your soul way deep into the glory of the bonus tracks including a faithful take on the Big C's "Naima". Good for at least a listen or two before it gets lost in that pile of Cee-Dees in your fart encrusted bedroom.
***
This early-eighties album portrays a more commercial Etron Fou than had been heard previously, but there's still enough RIO strangeness to make LES POUMONS GONFLES one recording that might appeal to not only the high brows who go for that European stuff but lighthearted aficionados who'll try anything just once, other'n rump wrangling that is. Thankfully these Frenchmen (and Frenchfemme) retain that weird sense of humor in their otherwise could end up pretty STODGY work, and if you went for all of those late-seventies Captain Beefheart-influenced acts that were popping up and about there's no reason why you shouldn't fall for this 'un as well!
***
Had whatcha'd an interest in these Canadian crazies for quite some time (or at least since their MIGRATION OF THE SNAILS album was being hawked by Systematic), but only just now got up the guts to get this double duty compilation of both Melodic Energy Commission platters. Despite calls to the contrary, I found this weirdo Hawkwind spinoff to actually work wonders despite the various proggy effects and a generally hippoid attitude it might exert once in awhile. Gotta say that the mix of oscillating whirlygigs and clanging Fourth World percussion adds up to some mighty mystical jazz sounds, and even if parts do sound like Yes outtakes that were just too tame for Jon Anderson to stomach it ain't like you're gonna throw up your arms in disgust! Y'see, if you stick around some hard rock jamz just might be in store and I'm talkin' the kind that don't bore ya as well! Former Hawkwind/Pink Fairy/Deviant Paul Rudolph appears on one track which makes this effort all the more exciting (at least to early-seventies hard rock aficionados like myself).
***
Wow, whaddaya know but...RECENTLY DISCOVERED PETER HOLSAPPLE AND ALEX CHILTON RECORDINGS MADE AT SAM PHILLIP'S STUDIO IN 1978!!!! They sure sound it too...Holsapple does his best to bring back ALL of those early-seventies AM British Invasion revival sounds to the point where even a few notes of this could raise Greg Shaw from the dead, while Chilton is the crackpot self he was on LIKE FLIES ON SHERBET even doin' an instrumental version of "Heart and Soul" which makes me wanna laugh my head off the way he goofs through the thing switching keys at a second's notice 'n all. Sure brings back fond memories not only of the inspired "new wave" that was the underground rage at the time but the magazines like NEW YORK ROCKER and even KICKS (circa. their first issue) which championed these sounds. A total outta nowhere surprise that sure reminded me of why music like this sent vibrations of hope and success throughout my nervous system back in those best/worst of time (as they all are) days!
***
Yeah, you know just why I decided to review this 'un, eh? It's because of the gal onna cover, THAT'S why!!! But other'n that you jagoffs will find more than just a li'l funtime pleasure when you plunk the needle down or slip the disque in and getcherself some boffo late-fifties (mostly) instrumental offerings from the "Raunchy" guy himself. Hotcha mid-South rumblings that'll remind you of just why the first age of rock 'n roll had this deep, burning, underlying strain of intensity that never really transposed itself to the giddy early-seventies "nostalgia" craze that reduced it all to inanity.
***
As Paul McGarry once said, you can't judge a record by looking at its cover and no truer words have ever been uttered. You might think these Bobby and Laurie guys to be some simpy singing duo like Simon and Garfunkel, but in actuality they were more like a kinetic Everly Brothers or atomic Chad and Jeremy playing the mid-sixties Big Beat sound without compromising their total eruption to please the li'l girls. Well, this sure ain't the MC5 I'll grant ya, but for a long-haired singing duo whose music wasn't swamped by strings and overproduction Bobby and Laurie sure don't come off like a pair of bobbysoxer boobs, y'know?
***
Shannon might not-a-been hittin' the way he used to when this '66 EP came out, but he sure hits with me the way he romps his way through four Snuff Garrett-produced efforts that were culled from either THIS IS MY BAG or TOTAL COMMITMENT...not too sure which one. As is evident from these recordings Shannon was still in top notch form, but at this stage in the game that early-sixties style was slowly slipping by and like, just how could a guy like this compete with them mop tops anyway??? Still, a great sampling of some solid rockaroll done up by a first-generation legend and like, maybe you lumpen new muzak types out there oughta lissen to the guy an' pay some HOMAGE, y'hear?
***
Hmmmmmm...mebbee this 'un should go into that year-end roundup of more familiar platters that I gave a play to throughout the year. Naw...I'll stick it here because not only is ANIMALISM a newie to me but because well, I did have this particular page up and I don't wanna spend time tryin' to find the one with the rest of the platters that might be a little too familiar for my every-week posts!
Still a goodie what with Mr. Scrambled himself Eric Burdon and crew working their way through a whole buncha covers including the hit single "Hey Gyp" and "Shake" not to mention a number of blooze that fit the group rather swimmingly if I do say so myself. Interesting tracks include Frank Zappa's "All Night Long" (from which I could only spot the riff from "No Matter What You Do" as far as any familiarity goes...in fact I thought this was gonna be that closing track from the Ruben and the Jets FOR REAL album!) and Muddy Waters' "Louisiana Blues" which I had previously known as "Gone Behind the Sun" on the Zappa/Beefheart CONFIDENTIAL bootleg...just goes to show ya that even a well-educated and much respected rock "historian" like myself can learn something new once in awhile!
***
Various Artists-SPIRO LAGER BRITTLE FLUID CD-r burn (Bill Shute)To say that this gaggle of groans might have just MADE MY WEEK would be an understatement, but gosharoonie if this "Bill Burn" didn't do just that! Lotsa hotcha flotsam here from a flexi disc for the NW Lads label outta Philadelphia which really showcased the teen sounds to Gene Marshall plugging the 1968 Republican ticket are but some of the highlights...you can also get some cheap soul crankout from Alvin Cash and commercial neo-fusion jazz from Guizado which just goes to show you how cornballus seventies music could be (and how fantastico punk rock sounded in comparison). Not forgetting A WHOLE BUNCHA RADIO ADS THAT REALLY SWING!...ever hear Bob Segar plug the USAF or Jimmy Witherspoon Lucky Lager? Well now you can as well as osmose the slowed down hardcore of Public Disturbance (weird lead guitar in that one!) and the Raiders' promo record for Mattel's new "Swingy" doll!
For me the highlight of this set was the appearance of "Act 1" by the Fulminate Trio, a NYC "Downtown" aggregation that surprisingly enough is up and running 'stead of a memory long gone. These guys play avant garde free jazz neo-fusion if you can fathom that, and they do a spiffy job of it judging from this particular extended romparoo. If they were around in the early oh-oh's you woulda been you'd be seein' 'em on the CBGB cybercasts emanating from the Lounge portion of that club during Dee Pop's old Freestyle series of events...but you can still hear 'em via the Unseen Rain label and if I weren't so dad busted broke I'd be doin' what you undoubtedly are and spend a few shekels for their wares this very same minute! You missed out on the Hanuman Ensemble and Freedomland...don't miss out on these guys!
***Hey, if you guys ain't gonna be buying up any copies of BLACK TO COMM that are still available I'm gonna stop posting these links taking you to a place where you'll never want to leave! Yeah, that's just what I'm gonna DO! OK, maybe not, but you better take advantage of my soft heart---click here and whatever you do, don't be stingy!
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