Get your morning started with something totally stoopid! Here's an inconsequential little ditty from Lee Dorsey. It ain't Ginuwine, but it still grooves. I came to this party for the occasional goose-honkin' sax and the cut-rate gunshot FX. Sadly, the washboard promised in the photo doesn't make an appearance.
old stuff
Sir Lord Baltimore - Hard Rain Fallin'
Sometimes you feel like a nut! Sometimes you feel like TWO nuts! Enjoy some proto-metal from the legendary Sir Lord Baltimore. Get weird to the primal guitar, the rippin' bass, and the demented bark / spastic skin-thumping of John Garner. Essential listening.
Duane Eddy | Ramrod
Hootin' and hollerin' from the man with the "twangy" guitar (quotation marks always included). This one's got Lee Hazlewood's greasy fingerprints all over it.
The Vern Blair Debate | Ooh Ah Ee
Fairly self-explanatory, and pretty much exactly what you'd expect it to sound like.
The Fireballs | Say I Am (What I Am)
I'll be posting a few good ol' tunes today that are based around vocal ejaculations. Ooooh! Aaah! So here are The Fireballs, doing their thing.
Charles Mingus | II B.S.
Good ol' Mingus. This great track kicks off a great album with a great title, Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus. It's got that swing for sure, but the best part of his compositions is how they always seem on the verge of falling apart. Hell, some of them do fall apart. I'd be interested in hearing a Reinhardt / Grappelli combo take this one on, if only to exploit the minor-key forward-thrust that makes this tune so easy on the earballs.
Jacqueline Taïeb | Le Cœur Au Bout Des Doigts
Here's a swingin' track from Jacqueline Taïeb, one of those yé-yé girls who finds a brief resurgence every now and then, most recently after Francoise Hardy appeared on the Moonrise Kingdom soundtrack. This one sounds more like Ocean's Eleven / Mark Ronson. I dig the delay on the horns, and the singing is smooth and confident. Am I in love, or is it tinnitus?
The Trinikas | Remember Me
Here's a nice little single from The Trinikas. I guess they were a high school group? If you ever go to your local Northern Soul night, notice how many of the bigger tracks have a bit of minor feel to them ("California Soul," "Nothin But a Heartache," etc.) Throw in one like this, that starts on the 4? You got yourself a hit!
Betty Davis | Don't Call Her No Tramp
Here's another kinky jam from the olden days. Phunk/phashion diva Betty Davis was briefly married to Miles, but apparently she was "too wild" for him. Larry Graham is all over her first album, and there's plenty of Sly-ed out rollin' and thumpin' on this track from They Say I'm Different, her second. Frantic clavinet courtesy of Tony Vaughn. Light In the Attic dusted these off a few years ago, just piling up more gems in their excellent catalogue. Righteous proto-Parliament-via-Bowie cover art on this one as well. Dig in, folks!
Paul Revere & the Raiders | The Great Airplane Strike
Who knew a band of dudes who had their own TV show and dressed in faux-colonial garb could rock so hard? This weird little ditty about an airplane strike features a raunchy Hazlewood/Sinatra-via-"Boots" riff, which sits nicely over the chunky syncopation of the multiple strummers. It's easy to find these guys in the dollar bin at your local record store, a total no-brainer purchase. Nancy Sinatra may be sexier, but these boys are a hell of a lot more fun.
Freddie King | Going Down
I'm not nuts about the blooz, but some of these guys penned a few serious jams. Today's installment comes from the Texas Cannonball himself, Freddie King. It's hard to place what it is about this one: the driving piano, the raw guitar tone, the effortless delivery? Anyway, it's worthy of repeat listens and consistent toe taps.
Esquerita | Sinner Man
Nine minutes of Esquerita bangin' on the piano! You can almost smell the pomade from his magnificent pompadour start a grease fire. Friction: it's science. Look it up.
There's some confusion as to whether he ripped off Little Richard or Little Richard ripped off him. My theory: some guy was working the piano so hard that he split in half, becoming the twin forces who invented glam and rock 'n roll simultaneously.
Cher | I Walk On Guilded Splinters
When you think "voodoo-funk diva," you probably don't think of Cher. And you probably shouldn't, with the one exception of this marvelous cover of The Gris-Gris Man himself, Dr. John. This song resides on "3614 Jackson Highway," where Cher was backed by the hot-n-sweaty Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. Listen to this while making dark love, getting into trouble with some masked friends, or driving alone through a field of tall grass.