Shirley Collins & Davy Graham - Dearest Dear

Seventh Anniversary Spectacular! 


Ivor Cutler - Beautiful Cosmos
Caetano Veloso - Um Canto De Afoxé Para O Bloco Do Ilê 
Bermudas - Chu Sen Ling  
The Fleetwood Mac - You Make Loving Fun (alternate mix)
Walter Gieseking - Grieg: Traumgesicht   
Equals - Funky Like A Train (live)
Jo Stafford - You Belong To Me

Yes, it was seven years ago today.  Stay tuned for two (2) seventh anniversary podcasts - one featuring Sheridan Dupre (!!!), which should both be posted within the next two weeks.

Thanks so much to Duane for the tip on that Equals number.

Anybody got any leads on any hot jams from 2007?  I tried for two weeks to do an all-2007 playlist and found essentially nothing.

Thanks again for your support.  One wonders how the remainder of this decade will unfold?

"Time is a stripper, doin' it just for you."

The Byrds - Airport Song

The Bermudas - Donnie

The Monotones - What Would I Do

For a brief window of time and space -- say 1963-1964 in Britain -- this was the sound.  The children in the film 7 Up can be seen cutting a rug to this circa 4:40 in this clip.

Darlene McCrea - My Heart's Not In It

This was on one of those Yo La Tengo mixtapes that were recently made available for purchase for a very short period of time. I've been trying to figure out what makes the soundscape extra creamy here. There's at least two guitars and a piano on the backing track, and loads of fabulous reverb on everything. Then Darlene's voice and its attendant reverb really push the cream factor over the top. The fact that it's mono helps too.

By the way, Darlene McCrea was in the Cookies.

Judy Collins - Me & My Uncle

MR. KUNSTLER: Who was present at that press conference?

THE WITNESS: There were a number of people who were singers, entertainers. Jerry Rubin was there, Abbie Hoffman was there. Allen Ginsberg was there, and sang a mantra.

MR. KUNSTLER: Now what did you do at that press conference?

THE WITNESS: Well---[sings] "Where have all the flowers---

THE COURT: Just a minute, young lady.

THE WITNESS: [sings] "---where have all the flowers gone?"

DEPUTY MARSHAL JOHN J. GRACIOUS: I'm sorry. The Judge would like to speak to you.

THE COURT: We don't allow any singing in this Court. I'm sorry.

THE WITNESS: May I recite the words?

MR. KUNSTLER: Well, your Honor, we have had films. I think it is as legitimate as a movie. It is the actual thing she did. She sang "Where Have All the Flowers Gone," which is a well-known peace song, and she sang it, and the jury is not getting the flavor.

THE COURT: You asked her what she did, and she proceeded to sing.

MR. KUNSTLER: That is what she did, your Honor.

THE WITNESS: That's what I do.

FYI - The witness was Judy Collins. From the Chicago Seven Trial.

Waylon Jennings - Abilene

If you happen to be stuck in traffic - or stuck in a rut - I can think of worse fates than having this to sing along to.

Ben Webster: Over the Rainbow (Live at Ronnie Scott)

Charles Mingus - Orange Was the Color of Her Dress, Then Blue Silk

Some Monday afternoon jazz, from Mingus at Monterey, recorded September 20, 1964.

"'Orange Was the Color of Her Dress, Then Blue Silk' was done for a television show in New York. I could really depict this kind of rich broad. It's bluesy because my sadness for the person. It's angry, it's dirty, it's old-fashioned blues and it also has a sad little melody. It's everything that would arise out of two complete opposites meeting and, for some reason, not being able to pull themselves apart from each other. You can see them sitting there glued to each other, for eternity perhaps, and not even knowing why they can't really get together."
--Charles Mingus, liner notes

Line up:
Charles Mingus, bass
Bobby Bryant, trumpet
Lonnie Hillyer, trumpet
Melvin Moore, trumpet
Buddy Collette, alto sax, flute, piccolo
Charles McPherson, alto sax
John Handy, tenor sax
Jack Nimitz, baritone sax, bass clarinet
Red Callender, tuba
Jaki Byard, piano
Dannie Richmond, drums

The Maytals: It's You

Single released the same year LBJ signs anti-poverty measure totaling nearly $1 billion. What's changed?



Toots & The Maytals: Monkey Man

Love the guitar on this one. First heard this track after checking out The "King" Kong compilation from a Memphis library and recording everything to a Maxwell. Now many years later wish I never returned it. I'm sure the vinyl ended up at one of their yearly library sales and someone walked away extremely happy.

Delia Derbyshire & Barry Bermange: "Dreams" part 4: Sea

This is the fourth part of a 1964 BBC radio broadcast entitled Dreams, a sonic collage created by electronic music pioneer Delia Derbyshire and playwright Barry Bermange. Check the astonishing mutant sounds for the full rip, and thanks to the equally astonishing two for tennis show for the tip.

Sandy Bull: Triple Ballade: Sans Cuer/Amis Dolens/Dame Par Vous, composed by Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377)

Sandy gets mediæval on your ass with this intense jam from his Inventions LP. Everything you need to know about life in the 1300s is encrypted in these tones.

From the sleeve notes:
"The Triple Ballade by the 14th century Guillaume de Machaut is transmuted by Bull into an absorbing play of sonorities as well as of lines. By multi-tracking, he plays the parts on oud, banjo and guitar. The piece is a canon on the unison in that each part comes in on the same note. 'Written long before rules of modern counterpoint had been set down,' Bull points out, 'the harmonies have that haunting sound of the Gothic age, plus what actually amounts to tone clusters in certain places.'"

For persons wishing to hear the piece in choral form, voilà.

The Iguanas: Slow Down

Early music from Iggy Pop.

Thelonious Monk: I Should Care

from the indispensable Solo Monk

recorded in sunny Los Angeles, CA on October 31st, 1964

written by Sammy Cahn, Axel Thordahl, and Paul Weston

from the film Thrill Of A Romance [1945]

The Moody Blues: Go Now! b/w Lose Your Money [1964]

Through a friend of a friend, I recently acquired a collection of 45's that belonged to two sisters growing up in Port Chester, New York, in the early 60's. Taken as a whole, these singles represent a fascinating cross-section of the hit parade of the day and a window into the musical psyches of two teenage girls. The classic teen heartbreak anthem "Go Now!", taken from this collection, is the first installment in what I hope will be an ongoing series. There are hundreds of records in this box. The only difficulty is that I'll need to find clean digital versions of the songs, because the 45's themselves are NOT rippable. (Talk about dusty 7's...)

Bonus cut:
Go Now! (recorded live at the NME Poll Winners' Concert, April 11, 1965)

And because the Internet is insane, go here to check out the original
Bessie Banks version.

The Magnificent Moodies on CD

The Beatles: If I Fell [1964]

written by Lennon/McCartney

from A Hard Day's Night

Like many of the early Beatles classics (She Loves You, From Me To You, etc.), this is a real John/Paul song. They both sing together through the whole song (after John's intro), and I like to imagine they wrote it together in the same room in one sitting (see photo above). Early Beatles rules.