5 45's (from the sixties section)....

This week's five pack are all from the sixties which isn't my usual area of interest. I started collecting garage records around the time of the original Nuggets ('72) and the Sonics' Explosive (Buck Shot) re-issue, but over the years as I listened to the garage stuff less and less, and the fifties rockabilly and R&B 45's got harder and harder to find, I traded away quite a few great garage originals. A few I truly regret trading away (Ritual by the Mods comes to mind first and foremost). In the post-Pebbles world however the music is all readily available, if not the original discs, in fact these days some of the coolest early comps-- Off The Wall, Hipsville B.C., Scum Of The Earth, et al are rarities themselves. Here's some of the records I've never considered trading and still play all the time. Baby Ray & the Ferns is of course Frank Zappa and the Mothers circa 1964. I think this is his/their best record, you can really here the Johnny Guitar Watson influence on the guitar solos. This is what they must've sounded like playing greaser bars in Cucamonga. The A-side-- World's Greatest Sinner is of course the theme song for the incredible Tim Carey movie, the flip-- How's Your Bird comes from a line that Frank Sinatra and his pals used as a sort of an in joke. Both sides are classic greaseball rock'n'roll, the kind they don't make no more. The Devils' Devil Dance on the Devlet label seems to come from Western Pennsylvania judging by the towns mentioned in the shout outs during the spoken part. It's a frat garage rocker that many know from the A-Bones version. My favorite thing about the label is that is says "7 " disc" , as if somebody was going to measure it to check up, but there's no address or label info. I bet these guys played a lot of frat parties. Speaking of Frat party bands, how the Trashmen ended up on Chess subsidiary Argo is anybody's guess but they were not kidding when the put the words "Audio Odessey" on the label. A-side is the third version of their '63 monster hit Surfin' Bird-- this time titled Bird' 65 while the flip is a pretty straight forward run through of the Warren Smith Sun classic Ubangi Stomp. The Trashmen never made a bad record, but I'd put this one as their third best (second best: New Generation which gets extra points for the sound of a a-bomb exploding). Mark Markam & the Jesters' were from Florida and this frat rocker takes the Louie Louie riff and adds some truly bizarre lyrics. Goin' Back To Marlboro Country was a bit of a local hit in the Miami area around '66, I remember hearing it on the radio at least once. Markam was a cousin of South Florida rocker Charlie Pickett who would cut a version of this in the 80's. I'm not sure if he cut any other discs but this will do as a claim to immortality. Last up is the original Fleetwood Mac line-up-- Peter Green, John McVie, Mick Fleetwood and writer/singer and star of this b-side Jermey Spencer. This teddy boy send up-- Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight was issued as the b-side of Mac's Man Of The World under the nome'du disc Earl Vince & the Valiants. Within a year, Spencer, who had previously been obsessed with Elmore James and fifties rock'n'roll would disappear into the Children Of God cult, one of the creepiest 'Jesus meets kiddie porn' cults around, only emerging recently. He did a whole LP in this style for Immediate (U.K. only), his second LP-- Jeremy Spencer and the Children (Warner Bros) wasn't even him but fellow cult members using his name to spread their ugly message. Doesn't it seem that everyone who ever played guitar in Fleetwood Mac would go crazy at some point in their career (ever see the video of Linsay Buckingham kicking Stevie Nicks in the ass onstage)? I used to have a great tape of Spencer doing a BBC radio show (backed mostly by F.M. members) doing all rockabilly type stuff including a great version of Cliff Richards' Move It (but I can't find it), and there's plenty of fifties style rockers on the Fleetwood Mac BBC double CD, if he'd of stuck with the Teddy Boys and Elmore James he'd be in better shape today no doubt. There's great book in the Jeremy Spencer story, I'm sure will see one some day.

Antoinette K-Doe Empress Of The World 1943-2009

The top photo is Ernie and Antoinette K-Doe's wedding photo. It hangs over the fireplace mantel in our bedroom. It was a wedding present from the late Kelly Keller. It was through Kelly I met the K-Does, fellow New Orleans bar owners. They owned the Mother In Law Lounge at 1500 Clairborne, one of the coolest joints I've ever been in. Ernie of course was a great New Orleans R&B singer responsible for such classics as Mother In Law, Tain't It The Truth, et al. Ernie passed away in 2001. They were true New Orleans royalty (and the best dressed people I've ever encountered) and I'm honored to have known them. Antoinette died today of a heart attack. As Mardis Gras gathers steam until it's final blow out on Fat Tuesday bar owners get less and less sleep and are usually awake from Sat. night until Tues afternoon, it could wear out anyone, and Miss Antoinette, who rebuilt the Mother In Law Lounge after Katrina seems to have just worn her self out. She was one of the best and funniest people I ever met. I remember when Kelly was still alive, once a week she and Antoinette would hit the thrifts stores on the outskirts of New Orleans and I tagged along on several of these junkets. They were some of the most fun times I've ever had. Antoinette was not only funny, warm, and down to earth, she made the best beans and rice I've ever eaten. New Orleans will never be the same without her. R.I.P.

ADDENDUM TO YESTERDAY'S POST: 

Funeral Info-

Friday: Viewing Of the Body @ Mother In Law Lounge 2- 7 PM

Saturday: St.  James Methodist Church (1925 Ursuline Ave) 9-11 AM Viewing Of Body

11 AM Funeral Service followed by 2nd Line to St. Louis #2 Cemetery.

2:30 PM-6:30 PM- re-pass at Rock n' Bowl

  The family needs help with the funeral expenses, their attorney has opened an account for the Antoinette K-Doe Fund at the Metairie Bank.  You can send donations to:

Antoinette K-Doe Fund, 3341 Metairie, LA, 70001.

She'd do it for you...

Gillian's Found Photo #1

     My wife Gillian McCain collects photos, she especially likes found photos. One of her favorite genres is pix of kids, especially kids who are somewhat, errrr, let's say peculiar.

Notice the stain on this little tyke's shorts.  The Mickey Mouse guitar is a nice touch.

Do you suppose that he grew up and joined an Emo group? Maybe he's in Slipnot...

(above photo is Copyright Gillian McCain Collection meaning you can't reproduce it without permission or you'll bring a curse upon your house lasting seven generations).

Goodbye Snooks

Another week, another guy whose musical talent was so unique and singular that he could never be replaced bites the dust. Ford "Snooks" Eaglin, age 72, died last Wed. He fell down and had a heart attack, he was already suffering from prostate cancer. He's one of the very last of the true New Orleans R&B greats. Snooks made tons of great records but my favorites were recorded in two very different settings. The first are the sides he cut for Imperial in 1960-61 produced by Dave Bartholomew (I don't have to explain who he is, do I?). On these recordings Snooks' guitar rides over a groove provided by Smokey Johnson on drums, Frank Field on bass, James Booker at the piano and the sax sections of Mayer Kennedy on alto, Clarance Hall on tenor and Clarence Ford on baritone. This is one of the truly great New Orleans session bands (the original Bartholomew session band with Lee Allen, Earl Palmer, et al had already moved on to L.A. and better paying jobs) and would have made anyone sound great, but with Snooks unique guitar style and laconic voice, these sides are just about as good as it gets. Some highlights are: That Certain Door, I'm Slippin In, If I Could and Don't Slam That Door. Harry Oster and Richard Allen recorded Snooks, who they'd seen playing on the street in New Orleans in the late 50's solo, playing 12 string acoustic (occasionally a washboard was added, the only other instrument) and these sides were issued by Arhoolie and Folk Lyric and capture a very different Snooks. This is the way he sounded when he started out, playing on the streets of the French Quarter for tips. Here's a few favorites-Locomotive Train, Veal Chop and Pork Chop, and because it's carnival time-- Mardis Gras Mambo. In Oct. of 1999 me and a bunch of friends opened a bar in New Orleans-- the Circle Bar (1032 St. Charles Ave @ Lee Circle, it was still there last time I looked), and one of my partners-- the late, much missed Kelly Keller who was basically in charge of running and booking the joint wanted Snooks to play the opening night. We actually had two opening night parties, one with Hank Williams III (Treycephus) and the second with Snooks Eaglin. Kelly knew Snooks from when she worked at Black Top Records and they were crazy about each other. He agreed to play for a fraction of his usual fee. The photo above is from that night (that's Nauman Scott, one of Black Top's owners patting Snooks on the head like he was a puppy). That night me and Kelly went out to Metarie to drive Snooks and his wife in for the gig. Snooks wanted to sit near the radio so he could punch the buttons, which he did the whole ride in. He had very big ears and although we yapped the whole trip he was obviously absorbing everything he heard on the car radio because that night in his set he worked in versions of Mott The Hoople's Ready For Love and Allen Sherman's Hello Mudda, both of which we had heard in the car on the way in. And he made them both sound like songs he'd written himself. At one point in his set Ernie and Antoinette K-Doe arrived. Since Ernie was "The Emperor of the Whole Wide World", the K-Does made an entrance befitting his title. Snooks, who was blind, went into a medley of K-Doe's hits, even got Ernie up to sing Mother In Law. As a bar owner it was one of my proudest moments, right up there with Phil May of the Pretty Things trying to french kiss me (I've got photos to prove it), ? & the Mysterians playing the Lakeside Christmas party and Andre Williams calling me "his nigga". Snooks was truly one of a kind. He played guitar in a finger picking style that I could never quite figure out, he made it look so simple, it wasn't, but he could make his guitar sound like a whole band. Snooks also recorded as a guitarist with Sugar Boy Crawford & the Cane Cutters on several 1954 sessions for Chess. These are some of the greatest records ever made. While only three singles were issued on the Checker subsidiary there was enough material for a two LP set, in fact one came out in the 1970's although it's long out of print. You can find the whole mess here. Note that PW means password which you'll need to unstuff the file.

Whether he was weilding an electric six string guitar (as on the Imperial sides) or an acoustic 12 string (as heard on the Arhoolie/Folk Lyric LP's), Snooks was a stylist unsurpassed.  Goodbye Snooks.

Quine II

Back in October I posted about Bob Quine, I posted four excerpts from some film soundtrack music he did in the months before he died (I think the recordings were done in Jan-March, 2004). I promised I'd eventually post the rest of these home recordings so here they are: Film Music: Two Film Music: Three Film Music: Four Film Music: Five Film Music: Six Film Music: Eight for parts One, Seven and Nine see the October posting under Quine.

P.J. Proby- How To Split Your Trousers and Influence People

 P.J. Proby's story is one of those crazed, it should be a movie but no one would believe it tales that I love so much. This is a mere thumbnail sketch of a man who's voice can raise a fan's enthusiasm to seismic proportions. A quick Google search will keep you busy reading and watching videos all week. The great Nik Cohn, perhaps the most insightful chronicler of pop music the U.K has ever produced (I even love his book on New Orleans hip hop, Triksta (Alfred A. Knopf, 2005) and I don't even like the music) dedicated an entire chapter to him in his classic work Pop: From The Beginning (Rock: From The Beginning in the U.S., Stein & Day, 1969).    P.J. Proby, born James Marcus Smith in Houston, Texas, 1938, into an upper class banking family headed to L.A. in the late 50's to make it as either a singer or pop star. His first managers renamed him Jett Powers (after James Dean's character in Giant) and it was as Jett Powers he cut two incredible rock'n'roll 45's that would have insured his infamy even if he'd headed back to Houston and taken his father's job running the Second National Bank. The first 45, released in '58 was on the Design label, a subsidiary of the budget Pickwick Records (where Lou Reed started out)-- Go Girl Go b/w Teenage Quarrel on which he was backed by a rockin' little combo called Vince Paris & the Raunch Hands (where the Crypt Records group would steal their name from) is, I think, the pinnacle of his entire recorded catalog. 1959 saw his second release-- Loud Perfume b/w My Troubles on Beta, an L.A. label, features Marcus/Powers/Proby fronting the Bumps Blackwell Orchestra, the same session players heard on all of Little Richard and Sam Cooke's early L.A. recordings. Both singles sank without a trace but have been re-issued dozens if not hundreds of times over the ensuing decades. To make ends meet he began recording demos for Elvis and Johnny Cash (amongst others), his voice had an amazing range and he was a spot on mimic who could reproduce nearly any style from Hank Williams to Mario Lanza.

Marcus tried his hand as a songwriter, selling the rather peculiar "Clown Shoes" to Johnny Burnette, then he struck up a songwriting partnership with Sharon Sheeley. Sharon Sheeley was one of those characters who would have been inducted into the rock'n'roll hall of fame years ago  if that idiotic institution had anything to do with rock'n'roll.  She wrote hits for Ricky Nelson (including "Poor Little Fool"), Eddie Cochran ("Something Else"), Brenda Lee, Irma Thomas ("Break-A-Way", her best) and others. She was Eddie Cochran's last girlfriend, and was in the cab when it crashed and killed him.  It was Sheeley who brought James Marcus Smith to the attention of British producer Jack Good, then working in L.A. on the U.S. TV show Shindig (best R&R TV show ever) where Sheeley herself was working as a writer.  Good spotted Marcus' potential and signed him up. Good's dream was to produce a rock'n'roll version of Othello and at various times names like Jerry Lee Lewis and  then newly renamed P.J. Proby were put forth as his Iago (it was eventually produced on film as Catch My Soul with Lance LeGault in the Iago role, Ritchie Havens played Othello, Tony Joe White was Cassio, it's unwatchable). Good brought Proby to London in '64 and launched him on a career with more ups and downs than Elvis' pill box.  Proby was an immediate sensation scoring a string of U.K. chart topping hits--Hold Me, Together, Somewhere, Maria (from West Side Story), et al, that were well made, even moving, histrionic pop, sort of Johnny Ray meets Elvis meets Tom Jones only better. It was the voice, his voice could overcome the schmaltziest material. These records may sound goofy to you hard core rockers, but with the studio guitar team of Big Jim Sullivan and his young side kick Jimmy Page, the pair that livened up so many U.K. pop discs from Dave Berry's The Crying Game to Donovan's Sunshine Superman, and Proby's over the top, operatic delivery they retain a certain appeal that is not camp but genuinely soul stirring.  Last time I looked his hits could be found here  (but you never know with these things, if the link no longer works try the Chewbone blog on the right). 

After his first hits Proby set out on his first headlining tour of the U.K., super stardom seemed assured.  He cut a striking figure, his hair cut into Beatles like bangs with a long pony tail trailing down his back, blue crushed velvet tunic and tight pants, buckle shoes.  The first night of the tour his tight velvet pants split, exposing his stuff to the audience.  The effete Brits were appalled but forgiving, the first time. When the same thing happened the second and third night of the tour it caused a sensation.  The third night the curtains were dropped on him mid song and the following day the press went wild.  Proby responded by issuing the single I Apologize, it went top ten.

    Proby lived hard.  He drank bourbon like it was water.  When Cohn interviewed him in 1966 he found him barricaded in a luxury hotel surrounded by acolytes, court jesters, groupies, body guards and the usual assortment of trash any rock star attracts.

You really owe it to yourself to track down a copy of Ugly Things magazine #19 (the last of the great fanzines in the tradition of Who Put The Bomp and Kicks). In it you'll find an interview with Kim Fowely (someone should do a book of Kim Fowley's greatest interviews) who recounts wild and wooly tales of time spent in London with Proby complete with  X-rated cameos by Diana Dors and Haley Mills! 

 Proby became Fleet Street's favorite whipping boy. And he gave them plenty of ammo. While he would have hit records until 1967 (his last hit Nikki Hoeky, an early delve into swamp rock that Tony  Joe White and Creedence would take to the bank, it was his only U.S. hit), he was constantly in trouble, getting drunk, throwing tantrums (often onstage),  getting banned, making headlines. He retired for a year to raise horses (1966-7) only to end up having to declare bankruptcy after finding himself

L200,00  in debt.  In the early 70's he would star in a West End musical portraying Elvis, record with Dutch prog rock group Focus (of Hocus Pocus fame), in the 80's he went new wave, recording Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart and other post-punk tunes.   

   But at heart Proby was always a rocker, his LP's, especially the early Liberty ones like I Am P.J. Proby always have some great rock'n'roll tunes thrown in, I prefer this stuff to his hits. Take a listen to his version of Ray Sharpe's classic Linda Lu, or this over the top work out on Stagger Lee (I think this is my favorite version ever). Another great LP track is the rockin' Caldonia. His choice of cover tunes was all over the place, for example this whacked out take on the Jayhawks' Stranded In The Jungle

is quite impressive or how about this rendition of Huey Smith & the Clowns'  Rockin' Pneumonia (and the Boogie Woogie Flu), or the killer version of the Five Keys' Ling Ting Tong on the top clip (above).

All his early albums are well worth searching out more for the filler material than the hits. An excellent selection of his rockers was here as recently as yesterday (be sure to note the password).

   Every now and then Proby hits the road and plays some supper clubs to pay the bills. His fans still love him.  So somewhere out there he sits-- P.J. Proby, he should be as big as Tom Jones, or at least Englebert Humperdink. Proby and his bottle of bourbon, in front of the tv set, cursing under his breath. That's the way I imagine it. Who knows, maybe he's playing golf or looking at porn on the internet.  I wonder what he's doing right now.  I wonder what he's thinking....

This Week's Five Pack....

So what's in this week's five pack of scratchy 45's? From the top we find somebody with the catchy nome-du-disque of The Creep on the Oakridge label, both unknown entities to me, The tune is a snappy little rocker called Betty Lou's Got A New Tattoo. It's basically a take off on Bobby Freeman's Betty Lou Got A New Pair Of Shoes, but better, and dumber. In her time Betty Lou might've seemed like quite a gal but nowadays it'd be harder to find a Betty Lou without a tattoo. The tune might be familiar as it's been in the A-Bones set for several decades. Maybe they should find something to rhyme with "Betty Lou got her labia pierced...." as a way of making it more timely. Another unknown group are Pat & the Satellites who cut this wild rocker, Jupiter C, for Atco in the early sixties. This was on the very first cassette Bob Quine ever made for me, and since that fateful day it has been one of my favorites. Like I said last week, I just love rockin' instrumentals and this sits near the very top of what Phil Schaap would call "the pantheon of sides". I think that means it's a good 'un. Mr. Wiggles was a pimp from Norfolk, Virginia. A good place to be a pimp since it's basically one big Navy port and full of horny sailors (it was also something of a hotbed of rockabilly, Gene Vincent & the Blue Caps, Janis Martin and the Rock-A-Teens all hail from the area). Herr Wiggles issued this homage to his bad self on his own Golden Triangle label-- Homeboy. What a classic-- I love his anti-materialistic stance stated over the fade-- "I don't want no Cadillac, all I need is a mule....".Mr. Wiggles also issued a strange LP about the Clifford Irving/Howard Hughes scandal in the early 70's, I almost sold my copy on Ebay, luckily the buyer never sent the cash and while I was holding on to it for him an article on Mr. Wiggles appeared in Living Blues magazine with the Howard Hughes disc pictured prominently. Some day I'll play the damn thing. I got to find it first, it's in a stack of unfiled LP's in the basement somewhere. Bob "Froggy" Landers' Cherokee Dance first entered my life on the old Specialty Doo-Wop LP that Dr. Demento compiled in the early 70's. Long out of print, every tune on it is a classic, although some titles like Roddy Jackson's "Moose On The Loose" (see the "Call Of The Wild" posting back in Oct.) are pretty far from doo wop. Anyway, I eventually tracked down the 45 and it has improved my quality of life considerably. That's Willie Joe Duncan playing his Unitar (a one string guitar) that gives the record its distinctive, almost fuzz tone sound. Willie Joe played on Chicago's Maxwell Street with Jimmy Reed before heading for the coast and briefly ending up in Landers' band the Cough Drops. He's featured on the b-side- Unitar Rock, a tune that was re-recorded by the under rated guitarist Rene Hall who brought Willie Joe back into the studio and issued the title (also on Specialty) as Twitchy. See if you can tell the difference in the two versions. Landers cut another disc-- River Rock Part One b/w River Rock Part Two for Ensign, an early Herb Albert/Jerry Moss (of A&M fame) label, but something's missing--- the Unitar! Had they kept Willie Joe in the group the second single would have also ended up in the aforementioned P.O.S. (pantheon of sides), but instead it resides in the 'for Froggy Landers completists only' category. Winding up this week is a platter from the Santa Clara, California label Blue Moon, one of the coolest labels of all time. They released such uber-classics as Johnny Amelio's Jugue (what be a Jugue? my guess is he's saying Juke and the person in charge of typing the record label messed up), and Linda & the Epics' Gonna Be Loved and our current topic: Cecil Collins & the Fretts' Rock'n Baby (as another aside they also were the first label to release Jimmy Bowen's I'm Sticking With You which became a hit when leased to Roulette, it was the label's only real hit). The Fretts' disc made today's list because I just got it yesterday. I like everything about this record from the primitive guitar chords that open the disc to the honking sax solo. I even love the way off key girl's harmony voice comes in right at the last verse as if she had gotten to the session a verse late. Oddly enough, this one was picked up by the jazz label Verve for distribution. Perhaps they were preparing the promo department for their future signing-- Velvet Underground?