Betty and Karen - I'm Not Satisfied

Dick Raaijmakers - Ballad 'Erlkönig'

I find this piece uplifting, but it sounds like Dick was maybe on a little bit of a bummer when he "wrote" it. Here's the composer in his own words (translated presumably from Dutch by Keith Freeman):

"Ballad is an epic, melodramatic piece. All the sounds which occur in it are originally radio-telegraph and radio-telephone signals: signs of survival from the slums of the realms of the ether - the domain of the short waves. Ballad is characterized by the absence of both acoustic and cultural DEPTH. It has only LENGTH (= duration) and HEIGHT (= loudness). Ballad takes place in the poor man's realm of formlessness, from where incomprehensible messages, couched in tiny signals, noises, rattles, notes, chords and voices, emerge in an unbroken stream; apparently at each other's expense, but also sometimes in unsuspected blossoming configurations, they form reflections of as many human attempts to live and to survive. This reign of shadows, where meaningful and meaningless aspects of the in origin always significant human sounds continually change places, is dominated by cries, hardly by speech, and by music not at all.
In Ballad the amalgam of these cries forms the labyrinth where Erlkönig (a ruler of the Underwold) manifests himself to a little boy, who is fatally ill and is taken by his father on a swift and wild journey on horseback through an inhospitable region of darkness and threat to a castle which holds the boy's salvation. It will be recalled that Erlkönig, the father and the little boy fail to communicate with each other satisfactorily during the journey, each of them interpreting in their own way the passing nocturnal landscape and the fate it holds in store for the boy. Ballad is an account of these events: it reproduces the ever changing moods of the three in a paramusical meeting of the linguistically rich lines of Goethe on the one side with on the other hand the linguistically impoverished multi-interpretable signals from the domain of the ether.
When the cloud of dust the father has raised across the land of those bereft of language or music has dispersed to some extent, and Erlkönig's kingdom with its fairies, lakes, noises, draperies, phantoms and illusions collapses before the eyes of the accessary boy, through what we would nowadays call a neglected cold, the singing from the ether continues uninterruptedly, passing on reports of a grey continuing existence without prospects."

recording realized in the studio of the Royal Conservatory of The Hague

The date of composition is 1966, but the record's from 1981. Does that mean this was committed to tape in '66 but not pressed on wax until '81? Thoughts and suggestions welcome.

The file is 48 megabytes, btw.

Love - Can't Explain (mono mix)

Noisy proto-punk jangle from Arthur and the lads. One can easily hear why these folks covered it.

Elvis Presley - Tomorrow is a Long Time

The Anita Kerr Quartet - The Wayfaring Stranger

Neil Young - Flying On The Ground Is Wrong (demo)

I've listened to versions of this by The Guess Who, The Buffalo Springfield, The Summer Snow, The Sneetches, The Rainy Day, and The Cascades, but I don't feel like any of them quite reaches the Platonic ideal of the song, so let's go with Neil's demo, as there's always something unimpeachable about the songwriter's original conception. Also: what is this song about?

Greg Condon

Janet Greene - Poor Left Winger

Los Relampagos - Danza Del Fuego

Música española por on conjunto español de músicos jóvenes, en una grabación especial con una técnica y una calidad de alcance internacional, ofrecemos en este disco que constituye un interesante paso dado en el campo actual de la música moderna. Los clásicos españoles se visten con ropaje moderno, sin perder en absoluto su excepcional calidad. Fieles a las obras que llegen a sus manos, Los Relámpagos, prodigiosos intérpretes, recrean estas páginas, consiguiendo prodigiosos y originales efectos que satisfacen al oyente más exigente.

Walter Wanderley Trio - It's A Lovely Day Today

Words and music by Irving Berlin, born Israel Baline on May 11, 1888, in Belarus. Irving was 62 years of age and living in New York City when he wrote this number, for a musical entitled Call Me Madam.

And yes, almost exactly five years to the day, this marks the triumphant return of Astrud Gilberto to these pages.

Engineered by Rudy Van Gelder.

Gerry Pond - The Sometime Girl

The Paragons - Abba

August 11th?

Time to party.

The Marvelettes - The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game

So sultry.

The July Four - Mr. Miff

I'm down with this instro mainly because of the mellow strums that kick in at 0:05 and again at 0:57, foreshadowing not only Like A Hurricane* but also the mellotron interlude from Space Oddity^.

*Check the vocal version of this cut for further reinforcement of the Like A Hurricane connection.

^I mean the passage at 2:34 in this clip.

Dave & The Diamonds - Think About Love

It sounds like a Yardbirds-era Jimmy Page may have snuck in to play guitar on this. Available on Rare Mod Volume 3.

The Charles Lloyd Quartet: Dream Weaver


This one just feels good. Plus, hold on to your hats.


the players:
Charles Lloyd - tenor sax
Keith Jarrett - piano
Cecil McBee - bass
Jack DeJohnette - drums

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich - Hold Tight!

Miles Davis Quintet - Orbits

EMMETT'S SEPTEMBER PLAYLIST

Wait 'Til The Sun Shines, Nellie - Buddy Holly
Love Hurts - Everly Brothers
Wonderful Summer - Robin Ward
After Midnight (1966 version) - J.J. Cale
Sand And Foam - Donovan
Earwigs To Eternity - Alice Cooper
Sands Of Time - Fleetwood Mac
Help Me Make It Through The Night - Ken Parker
Sooner Or Later - Pilot
Fire For Awhile - Shoes
Do The Do (MVD's swamp funk edit) - Bobby Rush
Messidor - Durutti Column
Dream On - Gino Soccio
Heaven (Sunshine Jones edit) - Rolling Stones
The Money Will Roll Right In - Fang
Vote Bowie For President - Sidwho?

Summer's gone but the time's still right for dancing in the streets. I'm experimenting with a monthly playlist format this month; let's see how this goes. Stay tuned for a possible sound quality upgrade on the Ken Parker track. Commentary to follow.

Al Hirt: Music to Watch Girls By

Recorded on December 12, 1966, New York City. Yes, that's Jumbo, Sugar Lips, call him what you will.

Archie Shepp: In a Sentimental Mood

Shepp's take on Ellington. Recorded August 12, 1965.

"In this performance he reveals another dimension of sensuality, of intimately lyrical sensitivity that is also part of the continually expanding expressivity of Archie Shepp. In much of his work, the beauty is harsh; on this track, it as full of wonder and unfolding concern as a first embrace between two lovers."
- Nat Hentoff, 1966

The players:
Archie Shepp, tenor sax
Bobby Hutcherson, vibes
Henry Grimes, bass
Joe Chambers, drums