WFMU's Beware of the Blog

Moving the Reel to Reel Catacombs to a New Site - A Very Special Last Post - Featuring Dora Hall!!

There is pure magic to be experienced, at least when you're in luck. Here's how it starts: Turn on the reel to reel tape recorder. Take the tape out of the box. Put the empty reel on the right spindle, and the full reel on the left spindle. Wind the tape through the mechanisms - including the pinch rollers, the capstan and the rest. The tape is pressed against the heads and moves at a certain number of inches per second. Start the machine. And sometimes... if you're lucky... magic comes spilling out of the speakers. 

For over five years (of my total of 7 1/2 years of posting here), I have been sharing treasures, finds, weirdness and the indescribable from my basement reel to reel catacombs, under a series going by that title. It began in March of 2010 with this post, and ends (for this blog), with the 67th entry, which is today's post. This blog is closing in a matter of days, and there will, at that point, be no further posts, changes or ability to comment. 

Before getting to today's post, which is a true favorite of mine, I want to say that it is my intention to continue this series, perhaps on a even more frequent basis, at a new site which I have started up this week, a blog I'm calling "Inches Per Second". That site can be found here, and I have already started posting with an initial post titled "A Gaggle of Giggling Twelve Year Olds". Please stop by, if you're of a mind to, and let me know whether or not the audience is there for me to continue sharing this particular area of collecting. 

As mentioned last week, I also hope to expand my current blog, "The Wonderful and the Obscure", beyond its current focus on song-poems, and bring in some of the other, non reel wonders from my collection. 

And now, on with the countdown: 

Several times, over the years, both in the 365 days project and in my own posts, I've mentioned the wondrous, late and lamented ALS Mammoth Music Mart, which ran in Skokie, IL, for 25 years, every fall. The most magical tapes I found at that sale are the ones featuring Merigail Moreland, You can read about the ALS sale and some initial information about Merigail in this post, and read the rest of the Merigail story in this post. 

But the second most wonderful find I made at the ALS sale is one I've rarely mentioned to anyone, and for which I've only shared the actual recordings with two people that I recall. For these tapes contain the sessions for an album by everyone's favorite Vanity Singer, Dora Hall, sessions that, as far as I can tell, were never released. And that's a shame because, for once, she was backed by a small combo of crack musicians, and, for one session, an big jazz band. Here's what I saw on one of the tapes I bought: 

Not familiar with Dora Hall? Read about her here, here and here, hear her within this site here and here, and search youtube for all sorts of amazing Dora material.  

The man behind these sessions was Chicago jazzman Larry Taylor. I have previously featured multiple posts featuring Mr. Taylor, and those tapes were also found at the ALS sale - clearly someone in his family dumped all of his tapes on the good people at the ALS fundraiser, because at the same time that I found those tapes, I also found close to a dozen tapes labeled "Dora Hall Session" and "Dora - Memphis" and "D.H" Session", and "Instrumental Takes - Dora". I gave them a spin, and heard.... magic, just as described at the start of this post.

These were the session tapes - with dates on them from the Fall of 1961 - at the studio speed of 15 inches per second (a few were 7 1/2 safety copies)  and featuring multiple takes of many songs (many more repeated songs by the band on the instrumental tapes than there were on the tapes where Dora overdubbed vocals, but just in general a lot of material). The band was made up of crack jazz musicians, with much of the material having a Dixieland feel. I own a ton of Dora Hall's albums and singles, and most of it has been captured online over the years, as well. If this material was ever released, I haven't found it. And it's better than anything else I've heard from her. 

First, before we get to Dora's vocals, here is one of the instrumental tracks from the Larry Taylor group that show just how good this band could be. Sadly, this one wasn't chosen for use under a Dora Hall vocal overdub, because I adore this track. It's my favorite from the tapes, actually, over any of the vocal tracks. It is just a backing track, but I love the back and forth between the "rock and roll" (twist) verses and the swinging bridge. But most of all, the trumpet solo - which sounds like it could have come from Clifford Brown - just kills me. It's sexy as hell, smooth and full of just amazing little melodic ideas. The last two bars of that solo are otherworldly. I also can't get enough of the little hi-hat and snare shot at the 2:19 point. I'm blathering, but these are the last thing I'll be posting to Beware of the Blog, and this particular track is one of my favorite things I've ever heard roll off of a reel of tape. 

The Larry Taylor Band - Between 18th and 19th on Chestnut Street (Instrumental) (MP3)

And now, a few samples from Dora's vocal sessions - I wouldn't be opposed to putting all of this out in some manner, and if anyone out there has the means to do so, in a larger venue than a blog, feel free to contact me at the e-mail address below. But for the time being, here are a few wonderful samples. The first three tracks are with the jazz combo (the first being over a different, swing take of "18th and 19th), and the fourth is from what's labeled as the "United Session", whatever that means - the tracks on those tapes feature Dora with a full jazz ensemble. To my ears, these tapes show Dora to have considerably more talent than her subsequent covers of pop hits (or later, less well made covers of these standards) demonstrate. Or maybe it's just the first-rate quality of the band(s) involved. 

Dora Hall with the Larry Taylor Band - Between 18th and 19th on Chestnut Street (MP3)

Dora Hall with the Larry Taylor Band - Nellie Bly (MP3)

Dora Hall with the Larry Taylor Band - Shine (MP3)

Dora Hall with Orchestra - That's a Plenty (MP3)

Back of Tape Box (JPG)  | Side of Tape Box (JPG)

Why wasn't this material ever released? Who knows? - most of those involved have been gone for decades. it is curious to me that Dora Hall released mediocre and just plain lousy material for more than a decade, while this material languished somewhere in Larry Taylor's home. 

You should be able to leave comments until July 30th. After that, you can contact me via either of my blogs, or via the e-mail address below. 

bobpurse@gmail.com

Thanks to everyone who read, liked and/or commented on my posts for the past several years. Having the chance to be a part of this blog has been one of the best things to have happened in my life. 

Bob Purse

"Juke Box Comics" - One Last Wallow

"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to the stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never.  In a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony."

William Henry Channing

"We are the music-makers, / And we are the dreamers of dreams, / Wandering by lone sea-breakers, / And sitting by desolate streams; / World-losers and world-forsakers, / On whom the pale moon gleams: / Yet we are the movers and shakers / Of the world forever, it seems."

Arthur William Edgar O'Shaughnessy

"A man is like a phonograph with half-a-dozen records. You soon get tired of them all; and yet you have to sit at table whilst he reels them off to every new visitor."

George Bernard Shaw

{ Drew Dobbs / aka "Listener Mindwrecker" } : What an irony that when I first began to blog here (in January 2009) I had just completed a move across country that required leaving behind three-quarters of my record collection, so that I began to run out of amazing material rather more quickly than I would have liked, and eventually switched over altogether into this comic book-related series. Thanks again to Otis Fodder, who ushered me into the honorable position of bi-weekly blogging at BOTB. It IS often all in who you know. This will apparently be the next-to-last post of mine here and so I'm going to pour a lot into these last two (or perhaps I'll squeeze in an extra one), as far as content. Since I am always prepping future blog posts well in advance, there is a pile of sort-of-related things left to present here, and it will be a little bit of a jumble sale.

Today, we'll be going through the rest of the six-issue run of "Juke Box Comics" (we have presented some bits from the first two issues here before) from the late 1940s and combing out the best from those lovely books, as well as one small piece in a similar vein from "True Comics" #75.

A lot of fun stuff awaits -- right after the jump!

Johnny Cash and Friends Present: Singing Rice-Ipes (MP3's)

Here's a little little seven inch flexidisc, titled "Singing Rice-Ipes", containing seven songs about all of the wonderful things you can make with rice, featuring Johnny Cash, among others, singing brief ditties in support of Riviana foods (here spelled "Rivianna"), makers of Minute Rice and a number of other rice prodects. This disc came along with an album, released by Columbia Special Products, titled "Nashville Chowdown", and also came with a list of seven recipes ("Rice-Ipes"), one for each of the dishes described in the seven songs. Neither the album nor the recipe sheet made their way to my collection, unfortunately.

I am not much of a fan of the country music made in this era (this was released in 1970, and my interest in country dies out with the decline of Roger Miller's career, a few years earlier), and admit up front that I only recognize Johnny Cash, who is the lead singer on three of these tracks. Presumably, the other four tracks also feature Columbia Records talent - feel free to chime in with the names of these vocalists. 

(ADDENDUM 7/9/15 - As pointed out by a couple of listeners (and as something I actually wondered about, but did not add to my original text), it appears that this is not actually Johnny Cash (or other famous singers), but rather, impersonators. Why Columbia would risk alienating the stars on their own label is a mystery to me, but this appears to be the case.)

Some of these items sound darn tasty, although I find the idea of making pancakes with rice really unpleasant.

All but one of the songs song run well under two minutes, most under 90 seconds. The first four songs are on side one, and the other three on side two (which is in considerably worse shape than side one - I did my best with the surface noise). 

1.) Houston Hash (MP3)

2.) Sunnyside Rice (MP3)

3.) Cripple Creek Casserole (MP3)

4.) Texarkana_Rice (MP3)

5.) Blue Ridge Flap-Jacks (MP3)

6.) Skillet Gumbo (MP3)

7.) Hopping John (MP3)

Record A-Side Label (JPG)   |   Record B-Side Label (JPG)

Scotty Scott and his Vanity 45 (MP3's)

The Film City label is one which utterly fascinates me. It was the label Sandy Stanton created after The Fabulous Fable Label, which I've written about here a few times. And it's where song-poem God Rodd Keith got his start and made many of my favorite song-poem records, using The Chamberlin as a one-man band project like no one else has done before or since. (I've posted many of them on my own site, and I'd link you to them, but unfortunately, recent problems with Divshare have rendered nearly all of the files on my site unplayable.)

Every now and then, Film City seems to have done business with someone who wanted to record his or her own material. More often than not, this seems to have involved utilizing the abilities of that same Chamberlin, which was, quite likely, played on those records by Rodd Keith. They typically feature the same wording as the song-poems that Film City produced, with such backing bands as "The Film City Orchestra" or, as in today's case, "The Swinging Strings". All such fictional bands actually being one man playing one unusual instrument. 

I've previously posted two Film City vanity 45's, one created by a man who clearly didn't know how very little he knew about songwriting, and one by a woman who seems to have known that she was making something fairly goofy. It also seems likely, as a friend of mine has pointed out, that the fabulous record I posted many years ago - "Can I Pawn My Teeth to You" / "Man Do I Like Fridays", by Roy Esser, has the sound and feel of Rodd Keith's Film City productions. Although it did not appear on Film City (Stanton created all sorts of tiny labels as offshoots of Film City), I'm betting that one came out of the Stanton/Keith file, too. 

Today, another Film City record from the vanity file, and again it's someone who was from the amateur end of things. His name was Scotty Scott, and captured on the two sides of this 45 are a multitude of stultifying couplets. Having written my share of lyrics over the years, I know the feeling of needing to come up with something that rhymes, scans well, makes sense and sounds good. With the lyricist of this record, it often sounds like he settled for "well, it rhymes", including phrases which seem pulled out of thin air, random and non-sequitorial. 

An example: The A-side is titled "Chattanooga, Nashville, Battlecreek Trek", and if you can manage to figure out the point of this song, please let me know. He rambles on about people getting jobs and where they've been and where they are for 2 1/2 minutes, along the way offering up this magnificent rhyme. 

"One man gets a job, then his brother gets one, too

Then his Uncle Bob, with or without a shoe."

The B-side is "Antique Hunter's Craze". This tells the story of a married couple who threw away all their old things way back when, only to become antique collectors later in life, sung from the perspective of the couple's son, who is none too happy about this development. We are told: 

You ought to see them when the find a bauble that's rare

Their eyes light up with a smile that before wasn't there. 

I particularly like that one because it just doesn't scan with the melody at all. 

Scotty Scott and the "Swinging Strings" - Chattanooga, Nashville, Battlecreek Trek (MP3)

Scotty Scott and the "Swinging Strings" - Antique Hunter's Craze (MP3)

A--Side Label (JPG)  |  B-Side Label (JPG)

Incidentally, this record was pressed on translucent dark red plastic, with a splash of yellow in one spot along the edge. I don't know how much you can make out, but here is a scan of the entire record: 

Film City 45 (JPG)

Silly Pilly vs. Mighty Bear

"Hello boys and girls and dads and mothers!  Here is a book full of the funniest people I know:

Mr. Wheatley Whale --- he's forty yards long, he weighs 80,000 pounds, he's good-hearted, but he's always getting mixed up.

Then there's Brumas --- the fattest, funniest little bear you ever saw.

Judy, That's Me! --- a little girl who helps Mr. whale out when he gets in trouble.

Silly Pilly --- who's so silly! He does all the silly things you DON'T do, because you know better.  

Then there are all sorts of puzzles and games and jokes and things we like to do and say and think about.

Will you write to me and tell me what you like best about our first book and tell me what you'd like in the next book?         

Best wishes to you from your friend,        Frank Luther."

Thus reads the introductory page from the one and only issue of Frank Luther's Silly Pilly Comics, and if that doesn't whet your appetite for a look at more, well...um...y'know, I can't really blame you! 

Francis Luther Crow, aka Frank Luther, nearly forgotten now, was one of the kings of the 78 rpm-records-for-kids market for many years in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. Besides being an ordained minister, country music artist, radio and television personality (he was even covered by Negativland!),  he also had his own one-shot comic book as well, which brings us to that half of today's post. 

We'll examine the entire issue of Silly Pilly (what a name!), as well as a crazy little story from Mighty Bear #14, so hang on to your hats and dive with us into the wackiness that is today's WFMU Comic Supplement -- right after the jump!

That English Sound!!! Sounding Not At All English!!!! (MP3's)

Here's one of the myriad albums which came out in the wake of the British Invasion, purporting to contain hits by your latest favorite groups, particularly the Beatles. While I found a few sites which shared this marvelous album cover, and several sites trying to sell the album (which I picked up for a quarter), it doesn't look like the material itself has been shared anywhere, with one exception (I'll get to that in a few paragraphs). While most of the other albums that I've seen or owned which tried to glom onto the Beatles magic are from 1964, this one would appear to date from some point after December of 1965, given the presence of both sides of the Beatles 45 release in that month. 

This is, as you might expect, as half-assed as they come. At no point do the performers sound anything like the original artists, OR like they are from anywhere in England. We are treated to one song each by the Rolling Stones and by Herman's Hermits (the latter featuring a truly atrocious attempt at Peter Noone's accent, and no attempt to recreate his vocal tone), and four Beatle songs from 1965. Amazingly, they manage to mangle key lyrical phrases in both "Help!" and "Day Tripper".

Three of the remaining four songs are mysteries, perhaps included to try and fill out what ended up only being a 25 minute album. On "Where Were You", the performers seem to have made the questionable decision to try to emulate the group I'd pick as the worst major group of the era, Jay and the Americans - not only an awful group, but also certainly not English. "You Make the Decisions" seems to want to be a Peter and Gordon song, while "Just Give Me Time" is clearly a Beach Boys pastiche - again, not noted for being British.

That leaves the final track, and the real mystery of this album. Because "Bless You Little Girl" turns out to have actually been released - and this performance of it, too - not once, but twice, under two different artist names. The song was co-written by well known songwriter Bobby Russell, and came out under the name Bobby and Buddy and also by Peter and the Rabits (sic). I've listened to all three releases, and believe they are all the same track. How did that song end up on this album? 

And did any of these labels make their money back. There was clearly talent involved in these releases - bands, string sections, etc. Were enough people fooled to help earn the costs of such a product back? 

1.) We Can Work It Out (MP3)

2.) As Tears Go By (MP3)

3.) Yesterday (MP3)

4.) Where Were You? (MP3)

5.) You Make the Decisions (MP3)

6.) Help! (MP3)

7.) Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter (MP3)

8.) Day Tripper (MP3)

9.)Just Give Me Time (MP3)

10.) Bless You Little Girl (MP3)

Front Cover (JPG)  |  Back Cover (JPG)  |  Record Label (JPG)

Oh, and COMMENTS ARE BACK!!! Have Your Say!!!

The Five-String Mob Vs. the Monster of Loch Trevor

Today we present another large dose of Jack Kirby magic, deep in the middle of the fantastic Fourth World saga, where we remembered a story with a slightly musical edge.

There are loads of guest stars and a tangled plot-line weaving into and out of today's tale, but you can also enjoy it simply as a nutty installment of Jimmy Olsen from December 1971, when Kirby was trying out four books worth of wild concepts, with no end in sight.

Long-hairs, rock music and youth culture usually get a poor treatment in comic books, and I wish I could say that Mr. Kirby treated "hippie" culture any better (since it was pretty moribund and co-opted at this time, it is a very moot point) than his peers, but he did give it a good try. His books certainly went much further out beyond the more common stereotypes to become nearly psychedelic on their own.

In this week's presentation we'll also briefly notice some "real" people used as models for Kirby characters, to whit: six comic book fans whom he was friendly with, and silent-movie-era actor James Finlayson (?!).

So strap in and join us after the jump for this extra-wild ride in the latest installment of the WFMU Comic Supplement!

Stanford's Spring Sing '68: "The Rights of Spring" (MP3's)

First, I wanted to point out to anyone who read my previous post, about the mysterious rock and roll songs, thall ALL of them have been identified. The updated post can be found here. And now, on with the countdown: 

I was lucky enough to come across this album last year, the locally produced soundtrack to a show held at Stanford in 1968, and titled "Spring Sing: 'The Rights of Spring'". In different ways, this album is entertaining, eye-opening and not much short of astonishing. 

I was only seven in the spring of 1968, but with the history I'm aware of, it seems likely to me that, aside from perhaps the first three weeks of that season, it was not a very happy, lighthearted spring season. No doubt the murder of Dr. King on April 4 of that year more than took the wind out of the country's sails. 

And yet here we have the recorded evidence of a celebratory college show, held at Stanford that Spring. My strong guess is that it took place after Dr. King's death and most likely after the most extreme of the reactions and fallout from that event (given that most schools hold an even of this type close to the end of the semester), and if that's the case, I find the lighthearted nature of much of this material more than a little surprising. The bottom line is that I found myself listening to this album just short of shocked at how little it seems to reflect the issues of the day. 

Well, now, not all issues. The first track, "We've Got Trouble" contains some biting words about the privilege of being White, and makes several jabs at this and related issues, so clearly the problems of the day were not unknown to these young people. 

The other issue touched on, though, in several tracks, is the relationship between the sexes on campus. While the soon-to-be coming of co-ed dorms is excitedly mentioned multiple times, I was more taken with the tracks which casually, with attempted good humor and complete acceptance, make light of the possibility of co-eds getting drunk and being taken advantage of, or just in general the question of when and how will the lovely young lady get home. And this occurs without critical comment in songs by both men and women's groups on the album. Looked at through today's lens, I can't imagine that these songs would have made it into the show in these forms, or that if they somehow did, heads wouldn't have rolled the next day. 

That's not to say that this album is a horror of unabashed sexism and cluelessness, just that nearly half the time, there seems to be only one thought on the performers' minds, and it is expressed in a way that I don't think would fly today. There are plenty of nice moments, funny moments and enjoyable musical moments here. On the other hand, there are a few straight numbers, uniformly dull and uninspired (one is labeled "Renditions of Simon and Garfunkel", but could have just as well be labeled "Sounds of Silence" as that's all it is). 

A few other notes: The track "My Lord and Master" is the second track on side two, as indicated on the label, and not the fourth track, as indicated on the cover. And there is no mention of the little speech the ends the album, on the cover or the label. What's odd here is that the person speaking seems to be introducing the next act as he finishes speaking, except that.... that's where the album ends! 

1.) Jordan/El Capitan – We've Got Trouble (MP3)

2.) Business School – Goodnight Little Girl/I Should Have Known Better/ Goin’ to Live with God (MP3)

3.) Lathrop - The Simple Joys (MP3)

4.) Delta Upsilon - Renditions of Simon & Garfunkel (MP3)

5.) Alpha Delta Phi – I've Been Waiting For Spring (MP3)

6.) Fremont - Getting the Cure (MP3)

7.) Soto - My Lord and Master (MP3)

8.) Kappa Sigma/Roth - The Wrongs of Spring (MP3)

9.) Roble - Death of the Roble Dollie (MP3)

10.) El Toro - Conception of Stanford (Blown By the Winds of Freedom (MP3)

11.) Unknown - Announcement at End of Album (MP3)

Here are the covers and the labels: 

Stanford Label A-Side (JPG)  |  Stanford Label B-Side (JPG)  

Stanford Front Cover (JPG)  |  Stanford Back Cover (JPG)  |  Stanford Back Cover Close Up (JPG)

Comments can be sent to bobpurse@gmail.com

A Few Mysterious Rock and Roll Obscurities, Circa 1959 (Exploring My Reel-to-Reel Catacombs, Volume 63) (MP3's)

STOP THE PRESSES: All of the songs featured in the post have been identified by several helpful correspondents. Read on for the answers, in Bold, below!!!

Over 15 years ago, I was at yet another large rummage sale somewhere, and came across a tape in a metal cannister (the type more typically used to hold 8mm films), labeled simply "Rock and Roll". This, of course, could have been anything from early Rock and R & B, to Beach Boys albums to 1970's stadium rock and beyond, but it certainly the sort of thing I would take a chance on. 

It turned out to be a recording of about 60 (mostly) rock and roll singles, many apparently recorded off the radio (based on snippets of DJ chatter and AM electrical interference here and there). But the odd thing was that these were not the standard "biggest hits" I've come across on nearly every other tape featuring old rock and roll that I've come across.

A handful of songs would be immediately familiar to anyone who enjoys the music of the era - all of them from 1959, dating the tape nicely. Another quarter of the songs might be known to people with a more intimate knowledge of that period - non-hits by Chuck Berry, The Poni-Tales, Ritchie Valens, Bobby Darin, Bobby Day, Art and Dotty Todd, and several others that I've been able to identify with the help of the internet in the ensuing years. What was remarkable to me was the sheer number of non-hits and tracks I still can't identify. Whoever made this tape managed to capture - in about 40 of the 60 tracks - records which were not national hits. And yet most of these seemed to be off-the-radio recordings, meaning that either the area in which they were recorded had a ton of regional hits, or that the person recording was lucky enough to listen to a station which had an unusually large playlists. 

As I've winnowed the songs I can't identify, over the years, I've been left with about a dozen, including a few that I really enjoy, and one that I just adore. So I'm putting the word out to all of those out there who also know and love this period in American music, and might know who/what a few of these are. I'm offering up six today. 

The second track on the tape - and the one I've never grown tired of listening to - is an alternate version of a song recorded by Robin Luke in 1959 or 1960, titled "Well Oh, Well Oh (Don't You Know)". It seems unlikely that someone would do a cover a of a song which was on a failed 45 by an artist who had only had one hit, so perhaps this was the original version and/or perhaps regional hit. I have tried, on two occasions, to find out who this performer might be, from noted experts in early rock and roll, and they were both stumped. I love the energy of this record, the vocal - which owes something to both Elvis and Buddy Holly - the Bo Diddley beat of the verses, and rimshot kicking it into the swinging chorus. I could do without the honking sax, but otherwise, it's just about perfect, and immeasurably better than the rather toothless Robin Luke version, which you can hear here.  

Unknown - Well Oh, Well (Don’t You Know) (MP3)

As it turns out, I was unable to find this song because Robin Luke's people changed the title. The above is the original track, titled "Well Don't You Know" performed by the song's writer, George Weston, in 1959!

My second favorite track on the tape was a nonsense/novelty record which I've titled "Great Scott", which is probably not correct. It's full of silly, fake words, and someone shouting more ridiculous verbiage with a ton of reverb. 

Unknown - Great Scott (?) (MP3)

This is actually "Crazy Talk" by the Loafers!

There are four more tracks from the tape that interest me enough to want to know what they are. I have guessed at the titles of three of the four, and have no idea on the fourth. I hope these (and the two above) are of interest to readers/listeners like me who love this era of American music (despite, in my case, the fact that these records come from the year before I was born!!). Most of the tracks start moments after the actual start of the record, and those are technically incomplete. But the final track, below, seems to be missing perhaps half of its length, and, being that it's an instrumental, I have no idea how to identify it, unless it's by someone who knows the track already. 

Unknown - Wanna Dance (?) (MP3)

That's "Wanna Dance" by Frank Pizani!

Unknown - Tra La La (?) (MP3)

That's "Ooh-Sha-Lala" by Mickey and Kitty!

Unknown - Sweet Shop (?) (MP3)

That's "Sweet Shop" by Randy Stevens!

Unknown - Unknown Instrumental (incomplete) MP3)

That's "Rockin' Crickets" by Hot-Toddys (featuring Bill Pernell)!

Rock and Roll Tape Can (JPG)

If anyone knows the remaining mystery song, or if you just want to offer up a comment - at bobpurse@gmail.com.

Special thanks to Lee R., Ken E., Steve C., Stewart B., Bruce M., Rich M., and Hellodes, who each offered up suggestions and/or answers to the mysteries of this obscure roll of tape!

The Story of Xavier Cugat & Other Super-Friends

 


"A caressing, torchy voice that enchants even the most hardened theater-goer, plus an astonishing beauty, make gorgeous Lena Horne one of the most exciting blues singers of our time. Her haunting style of singing has lifted this Brooklyn girl to the top of the nation's outstanding entertainers."

We missed a post due to illness here at the WFMU Comic Supplement, but we're back with a vengeance this week with all true-life stories of famous music and entertainment stars of yesteryear, as depicted oh-so-realistically in comic books of their day.

We've got six whole life stories to learn about so let's get right down to it; come and join us for non-fictional fun right after the jump!

Thurl Ravenscroft - Volume 6 - And That's No Bull! (MP3's)

On five previous occasions, I've brought you items from my collection featuring the great Thurl Ravenscroft. 

This began during the 2007 "365 Days" project, when I shared many of my favorite Thurl items all at once, and was most recently updated just over two years ago, in a post you can find here (and which links back to the previous post, which itself links to the earlier posts...)

Today, three songs from two vintage 45's. The first is a record by Jerry Gray and his Orchestra, who I previously featured with Thurl on a song called "Pale Moon" a few years ago. This record is more of a novelty, and it's one that really allows Thurl to go to town, with a fake Spanish accent and some truly deep notes at the end. 

Jerry Gray and his Orchestra, Vocal Chorus by Thurl Ravenscroft - And the Bull Walked Around "Olay" (MP3)

Record Label (JPG)

The other two songs are from both sides of a 78 recorded by Thurl's quartet The Mellomen, a name which was sometimes spelled (as it is here) The Mello-Men. 

Thurl is front and center on the first song, "My Love, the Blues and Me", giving him a rare chance to sing lead on a slow, sad romantic song. 

The Mello-Men - My Love, the Blues and Me (MP3)

Record Label (JPG)

On the flip side, "I'd Give a Million Yesterdays", you'll hear, for the most part, Thurl's more typical role in the Mello-Men - singing as part of an ensemble. I have dozens of records by the group - typically backing up other singers - where the bass could be anyone, because he never steps up and sings anything by himself, or in his lower register. This one is different, though, in that Thurl gets a brief solo spot near the end of the song, which is worth the price of admission. 

The Mello-Men – I’d Give a Million Yesterdays (MP3)

Record Label (JPG)

Comments can be sent to bobpurse@gmail.com    

'Listener' Mindwrecker Mines Some Audio Motherlode

Greetings, Audiofiends!  I'm stepping away from my usual WFMU Comic Supplement posts today to point to a few audio-centric websites that I still regularly use. Naturally, many fine pages disappear or go dormant, but these are some that have remained robust for many years (and one interesting newbie).

Many pages feature rarities that are so long out of print and obscure that they are one of the only sources of the material, while others are more of a 'listening room' where you can stream or download material to judge whether to buy it from a vendor legitimately.

Here are my top five current favorites:

 Allen's Archive of Early and Old Country Music, whose title pretty much sums up the contents. Terrific old vinyl in various genres, and occasional lovely collections of 78rpm records. Cover artwork, occasional label art, good information when he knows it. This has been a wonderful resource over the years, and is great for experimental downloads - surprise yourself with some unfamiliar stuff.

Willard, here, used to run a fantastic Harry Nilsson page that is much missed since it's untimely departure last year. His Wormhole page is a currently awesome resource for listening to some hard-to-find oddities and bonus tracks by a very wide variety of artists and styles (as well as videos). Plus he really knows his material and does his homework.

Lonesome Lefty is another site specializing in old-timey folk and country material. They seem to be based out of Canada or somewhere way up North as a lot of the records come from up there. Lots of liner notes from Lefty accompany all posts so that you are always well-informed about the album in question.

Our pal Uncle Gil spins loads of different types of records, with a decided slant towards vintage R&B and early rock and roll, but you never know what will turn up in here. Many surprises. Worth a good dredge every so often. Another site that puts up a steady stream of new material all the time. This one is perhaps based in Europe somewhere, as the pressings seem to almost all originate overseas, which makes for some nice unusual versions of records.

And lastly, our newcomer to the daily-posting-of-vinyl-records scene:

This one just started up on January first, and threatens to put up a different record every day. So far, the selection is thrift-stor-ey and cool, and the downloads are high-quality for the most part and include well-scanned and edited cover artwork.  No information given - just slabs of wax served up hot.  I'm enjoying this page a lot so far, they have showcased several favorite records of mine in the short time they have been online. And I thought that WFMU people would appreciate the "365 Days" aspect of this site (is there a connection with us-? Your guess is as good as mine).

Basic Hip Oddio 365

Enjoy, peoples! And I'll see you next time at the WFMU Comics Supplement.

Comments:  mindwreckertv@gmail.com

"Barbie the Nightclub Singer" and Other Dabblings in High Art

"It was OUR SONG Roger's and mine ... the love song that formed the background of our romance ... THE THEME THAT BROKE MY HEART.

It's all over and done ... and I NEVER think of Roger anymore ... never, except when I hear THE SONG they're playing ... it was 'OUR SONG' then ... the theme they were playing that first night right here when Mark introduced me to ROGER MELTON."

Thus begins the heaviest of our four light tales today. And in the others we will visit The Archies as they try to rehearse, take in Barbie and Ken at their hit nightclub act, and learn about how taking up accordion can change your life forever!

A frothy mix of comics madness featuring humor, romance, adventure and accordions - all to be savored right here at the WFMU Comic Supplement - right after the jump!

The Songs of Christian America - Clifton Webb at the Piano (MP3's)

Here's a downright peculiar album. It came from Fleetwood Records, in Revere, Massachusetts. But while Fleetwood seems to have specialized in Drum and Bugle Corps records, as well as a variety of sports related releases, this one is something different entirely. 

Credited to "Nathan Webb at the Piano", and titled "The Songs of Christian America", it is nothing but a series of unidentified songs played as piano solos, for more than 25 minutes a side. 

The back of the cover is blank, and the album label only repeats what is said on the cover, as well as a bit of label information. That information includes the phrase "PARDON ME, but... CHRISTIAN PATRIOTS SCHOLARSHIP FUND". I'm assuming the album was a fundraiser for that fund, although I can't find out anything about this particular group of Christian patriots or their fund. 

My assumption, though, is that this was a white supremacist group of some type, both because that sort of group pops up in searches for the phrase "Christian Patriots", and because this album came to me in a collection which contains multiple other examples of anti-Semitic, anti-Black and related white supremacy items, such as the album I posted by Wally Butterworth, some time ago. 

What you'd be hard pressed to do would be to develop any idea of the political leanings behind this album by actually listening to the tracks. These are straightforward, unimaginative and (to my ears) deathly dull run-throughs of several songs. As mentioned, the songs aren't named on the label, and in a fit of un-professionalism, the producers allowed the next to last song to be recorded at a very low level, and only faded in to full volume after more than half a minute of the tune.

Many of these songs I either don't recognize or can't recall the names of (in the latter camp are several hymns I can hum, but can't put words to). Those I do know include a number of national songs, as well as a few of those hymns. In at least a few cases, calling these songs "Christian" is a stretch (is the U.S. National Anthem in any way a strictly Christian song?), and in at least one other, identifying the song - "Onward Christian Soldiers" - as an American song, is demonstrably untrue. 

Because I'm familiar with so few of the songs, and because they are unnamed on the label, I have simply made files of the two sides, without breaking them down into tracks, many of which I'd have to leave unnamed anyway. Besides, the best thing about this album, by far, is being able to see the ridiculous cover

Nathan Webb: Songs of Christian America, Side One (MP3)

Nathan Webb: Songs of Christian America, Side Two (MP3)

Album Cover (JPG)  |  Record Label (JPG)

Comments can be left at bobpurse@gmail.com

The Sound of Good Selling! (Exploring My Reel-to-Reel Catacombs, Volume 60) (MP3's)

Happy New Year, Everyone!!!

To help you celebrate, here are two tapes from my most recent acquisition: a pair of undated tapes from Lorin-Frank Productions, Inc. In this case, these are Volumes 3 and 5, the only two tapes of that series that came in this bundle of seven advertising reel to reel goodies (all on five inch reels).

Many of these are jingle commercials, with vocals at the start and finish and music beds in between. Volume three contains ten selections, volume five only has five selections (including two for Noxema - they seem quite similar, but are identified as different radio and TV ads). One of these in the latter batch is for National Beer, although it in no way can compete with the classic National Beer ads created by "Star Ads", which I've previous posted here and here, and which can also be viewed here.

Here is Volume Three:

1.) Lorin Frank Productions - WTAE Jingle (MP3)

2.) Lorin Frank Productions - Noxzema Background Score (MP3)

3.) Lorin Frank Productions - Genesee Jingle (MP3)

4.) Lorin Frank Productions - Gold Medel Jingle and Background (MP3)

5.) Lorin Frank Productions - STP Jingle (MP3)

6.) Lorin Frank Productions - Chevy (MP3)

7.) Lorin Frank Productions - Noxzema Jingle (MP3)

8.) Lorin Frank Productions - Viz Eye Drops (MP3)

9.) Lorin Frank Productions - Bisquick Jingle (MP3)

10.) Lorin Frank Productions - Carling Jingle (MP3)

Volume Three Tape Box (JPG)

And here is Volume Five:

1.) Lorin Frank Productions - Radar (MP3)

2.) Lorin Frank Productions - Bee Hive Golden Corn Syrup (MP3)

3.) Lorin Frank Productions - National Beer "Gone Native" (MP3)

4.) Lorin Frank Productions - Noxema Complexion Lotion (MP3)

5.) Lorin Frank Productions - Noxema Complexion Lotion (MP3)

Volume Five Tape Box (JPG)

Dog, Moose and Squirrel Versus Everyone

 
Come in and join us for a spooky champagne jam to ring in the year with your pals Rocky, Bullwinkle and Scooby Doo - right after the jump!

Women, In Power and In Peril; film highlights from my 2014 (plus a music list)

The Internet is full of lists; end-of-year, top 10s, top 20s and 25s, often just a collection of line items laid bare, sometimes hyperlinked, sometimes not, and it's often left to the reader to do their own research. The Internet is also full of opinions (and we know what gets said about those), and it's made it way too easy to surf in, say your bit, and beat a hasty retreat, without laying down any sufficient backup data.

With music, I get it, a list is a list is a list—you have the artist name, the release title, and if you like what I like in general, you may already know about it and agree, if not, you'll look it up when time allows. But with film, there's way too many "authorities" out there, who do little more than hand out a bare-bones plot description, call it a review, call it "writing," and I think it's a big part of the reason people say, "Another film list, great. Haven't seen one of those in 5 minutes!" There's a lot of crappy, tossed-off film commentary online, and in some cases it completely sidesteps what I think is the very critical element of WHY this writer liked this film. Film criticism is the place for opinion, a more-than-apropos venue to make it personal; but here in the USA, where we're used to getting a heavy slant in our news media, with maybe, if we're lucky, a side dish of factual information, it's all ass-backwards. I'll continue to work against this tide, with gratitude to those whose pay attention, read instead of skim, and have looked forward to these film lists of mine for however many years I've been doing them.

When I looked at my notes for this year, one common element became abruptly apparent—women. Almost all the films on my list featured a female protagonist, in many cases also an antagonist, and I found this striking, both for the indicated shift in cinematic storytelling (especially in genre and horror stories), as well as the impossible-to-ignore lack of a significant other in my own life, a void that becomes more gaping with time, which may have led me to "favorite" these excellent tales of the female—in power, in conflict, in subjugation and in madness.

King Kelly (2012) - This movie gets billed as a drama, but to me it's a thriller, as horrific as any genre film, and maybe that's because I remember a time before the online world filtered, dictated, and straight-up controlled our daily existence. It's an ultimate indictment of the look-at-me generation, where more than ever, women are worshipped solely for their appearance, for "hot pics," where Instragram likes matter infinitely more than the ability to make good conversation. Whether women are more, or less empowered by these circumstances is arguable, and a topic for a whole other post. King Kelly is a webcam girl—the focus of modern, straight-male idolatry—and in her self-crafted universe, which extends into the physical world almost immediately in this harrowing piece of hand-cam cinema, she's for sure empowered, if not in control; like a steamroller with no driver, Kelly creates havoc and destruction for all who hover near her flame. She's just trying to be the hot girl, get some shit done, while engaging in some moderate-to-severe manipulation, and it all flies horribly and tragically out of control. Some may laugh as this movie; I found it to be anxiety-inducing entertainment, loaded with a mounting paranoia. In the Cold War era, we had The Manchurian Candidate, in the Internet age, standards duly lowered, we have King Kelly, and her potential for casual, callous trampling on human life; for me, more frightening, and less comprehensible, than Frank Sinatra's hypnotized assassin. King Kelly is all too real, and just a click away.

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006) - A bit older, but new to Netflix, this is going to seem at first like a very standard, teens-on-holiday-getting-picked-off-one-by-one B movie, but don't be fooled. The plot thickens rapidly, like social tar, and I'm perhaps giving away a minor spoiler to say that there is no outside killer, no masked, machete-wielding antagonist preying on innocents, but that's a change for the better. Mandy Lane and her "friends" are far from blameless cannon fodder, and again we find ourselves in the midst of a bitter, no-punches-pulled indictment of American youth, twisting and perverting their entitlement into scheming, murderous intent. What seems at first like some light competition over the girl voted most crushworthy, spins rapidly into a classic tragedy, with a body count to rival Hamlet. My own son is now just entering his teenage years, making this more-than-it-appears tale of twisty teen murder all the more palpable and provocative to me personally.

Alyce Kills (2011) - Get ready to leap forward a near-generation, as Alyce is Mandy Lane and King Kelly's big sister, a New York City girl of opportunity, who gets a taste for homicide. The city is unnerving, shaking to the core, even (or especially) for a pretty white girl—it's competitive, and riddled with constant temptation to bad behavior. In NYC, there are more reasons to spin deliciously and unrepentantly out of control than to maintain even the appearance of doing the right thing, and Alyce's fall is as grandiose and fascinating to watch as it is inspirational. Having not lived in the city since 1998, I'm now what film writer Thom Andersen would call a "low tourist," in that I delight in depictions of my former home's flaws and hypocrisies. Alyce kills, indeed she does, but she's also a heroine, a "fuck it" icon, for those who know firsthand how NYC can hammer any semblance of a moral code out of a person. One of my favorites on this list.

Nymph()maniac (2013) - Lars Von Trier has once again made a film I can sink my teeth into, after a few films where, as a fan of his work generally, he lost me, with stories too figurative, symbolic and esoteric to have much impact. I like Von Trier at his most gritty, critical and mean-spirited, and to call his films "sexist" is an oversimplification that entirely misses the point; the men come off no better, often worse, and Von Trier at his best is holding up an unflinching mirror, saying "this is how shitty we are, look at how we treat each other." In my view, the director must worship women, because he can't keep himself from telling obsessive stories about them. Charlotte Gainsbourg absolutely shines, as does Uma Thurman (in one brief but intense scene), while the male characters in Nymph()maniac, though crucial to the story flow, are scummy, transparent wallpaper, not worthy of the complexity and gut-wrenching humanity of Von Trier's women. If anything, the director hates MEN, and I felt shame, even horror, at my own fellows, while watching this epic of human degradation. And is Gainsbourg's sex maniac a victim by chance or a victim by choice? A bit of both, provocative enough to have the film scholars flapping about what this film "means" for decades.

Escape (Flukt) (2012) - The literal translation of this film's Norwegian title is Flight, and fly it does, an action / adventure depiction of the struggle between two women; one a teenage girl, grappling for survival after witnessing the barbaric slaughter of her parents and younger brother, the other a Norse warrior woman, brutal and possessed by forward movement and survival in its rawest form, with a tragic, dark past of her own. Capturing the teen, the warrior, fiercest in her band  (comprised otherwise of formidable males), intends to use the girl as breeding stock, and as one might imagine, the girl does anything and everything to escape her fate as the tribe baby maker. Such ensues a ragged pursuit through pre-industrial Norway, over land and water, arrows and rocks flying, bodies falling, and that's the movie. Simple, but not predictable, and raucously engaging.

The Machine (2013) - All films, genre / sci-fi stories especially, should inhabit their own, idiosyncratic world of production design, and The Machine does this with stunning accomplishment—the computers, comm systems, labs, and the titular android itself—all impressive, and quite second nature to the film's character inhabitants. I think of The Machine as a sister film to Beyond the Black Rainbow, if only for their shared moody framing, and roots in 70s sci-fi classics, all achieved with a comparatively small budget to the CGI-dominated blockbusters. In brief, a team of talented AI scientists is broken apart when the woman, a new hire, is assassinated by higher ups for spying; the man, in his grief and frustration with their cruel, crooked bosses at the MOD, designs a powerful AI android, The Machine, with the likeness and basic personality profile of his dead colleague. (He hadn't time to fall in love with her, though he almost certainly would have.) A struggle between the altruistic scientist, his machine, and the evil government ensues, a familiar theme for sure, but this story is done with incredibly meticulous camera work, script, and design; not a single shot is wasted, and the film is engrossing from scene one, and never stops to breathe. A remarkable accomplishment for a first-Internationally-distributed feature, and I can't wait to see what director Caradog James does next.

A Trio of Weird and Obscure Christmas 45's (MP3's)

Perhaps, after a solid month of Christmas music, you're now thoroughly Binged, Burled, Perryed and Thurled out (although I personally wonder if anyone could really get Thurled out...). 

Well, here is a set of three Christmas records I'm guessing you haven't heard before. At least two appear to be vanity releases, and the third is on a Chicago label which may have been tiny enough for that release to also be something of a vanity production. 

First up is our old friend Harold Duncan, last heard around these parts singing his patriotic tune "Be American". This record came out on the "American Sound" label, which I suspect was Duncan's label, as "Be American was on the same label".Mr. Duncan was from south Florida, and appears to have made a variety of attempts to break into the music business, judging from the number of times I've discovered his name turning up on an obscure record or piece of sheet music. Of the four records I own that have a direct Duncan connection, his Christmas concoction is by far the worst, in both composition and execution. 

The song is called "Santa Got Stuck in the Chimney (Upside Down)", and it is just as stupid as that title suggests. But the problems only start there. Mr. Duncan enlisted a group called "The Rusch Sisters" to sing this song, and its flip side, and they are, simply put, unbearable. They sing in what I suppose is supposed to be a cutesy style (perhaps even supposed to sound like young girls), at times at the upper end of their ranges. Ecch. 

Worse yet is that flip side, "Rudolph Stopped to Rock 'n Roll", particularly the bridge, where they very nearly squeal on the high notes. The fact that the backing has nothing in common with " Rock 'n Roll" certainly doesn't help. 

My copy of this record came with a similarly self-produced book, complete with a drawing of Santa in the chimney, and the sheet music of the song inside. When I find that book, I'll add that image to this post. 

The Rusch Sisters - Santa Got Stuck in the Chimney (Upside Down) (MP3)

The Rusch Sisters - Rudolph Stopped to Rock ‘N Roll (MP3)

Rusch A-Side (JGP)  |  Rusch B-Side (JPG)

 

Given my love of song-poems, I'm quite intrigued by this next offering. Credited to "The Ping Pongs", it contains two Christmas tunes as well, "Pinky Tail" and "The Things I'd Like for Christmas",. While I can't find anything that makes it clear to me that this is a song-poem, it sure looks and sounds like one to me. I'm sure that, at the very least it is, as I've mentioned, a vanity project.

But the label (Sunkist Records) looks like any number of small song-poem spin-off outfits, the label number (102) indicates this is one of the first discs on the label, and the performances sound like a song-poem group - specifically, it sounds like the less-than-enthused group which showed up on many of Norridge Mayhams later projects (the melody of "Things I'd Like" actually sounds quite a bit like a couple of Mayhams' songs), a group I believe came out of the Globe Records song-poem emporium. 

Regardless of the back-story, these songs are an interesting listen, with a tossed off feeling and homespun instrumentation. 

The Ping Pongs - Pinky Tail (MP3)

The Ping Pongs - The Things I’d Like For Christmas (MP3)

Ping Pongs A-Side (JPG)  |  Ping Pongs B-Side (JPG)

 

 

 

Finally, out of Chicago's small IRC label (most famous, if that's the word, for releasing Dick Biondi's "Pizza Song", and some of Ronnie Rice's earliest records), comes the fabulously named "Leonard at the Thomas Organ", with a misbegotten attempt to glom onto the success of the Chipmunks, although whoever is doing the sped-up vocal goes completely unacknowledged on the record label.

Unfortunately, no one told the performers or producers of this record that if you're going to record at half-speed for comical effect, you have to enunciate extremely clearly, nor did they learn that whatever you're singing while doing that enunciation needs to be funny.

I had to slow this track down to half-speed to figure out all of what was being sung, and once I did, I could make out all the words, but I still couldn't figure out what was supposed to be cute, funny or endearing about a very pedestrian description of some not very interesting events. Actually, I get a kick out of the billing of the performer (see above) and the extraneous quotes in the song title more than I do out of the song. It's listed as "Cross-Eyed 'Little' Santa Claus". 

The flip is an instrumental titled "Jingle Jam".

Leonard at the Thomas Organ - Cross-Eyed “Little” Santa Claus (MP3)

Leonard at the Thomas Organ - Jingle Jam (MP3)

Leonard A-Side (JPG)  | Leonard B-Side (JPG)

For those who might like more obscure Christmas music, I've been featuring Christmas song-poems all month at my own site. 

Comments can be sent to bobpurse@gmail.com 

"Station G.H.O.S.T!"

"How many times have you seen a ghost story on television? Did it leave you frightened, fearful
that ghosts really exist? Of course it didn't . . . Yet, could you really be sure? Perhaps this tale will change your mind, for you are about to witness the real-life results of the spine-chilling stories told on . . . Station G.H.O.S.T!"

Another excerpt from today's selections:

"Roger Dorn loved beautiful music - - but not when the hands that played it were those of a man he had murdered!"

Ok, well,  there's also this to look forward to on our banquet today:

"It was a novel idea . . . This dance on the large native drum! Patrons crowded the exclusive New York night club to see the famous Annette perform! But as the exotic dancer's feet began tapping out a rhythmic tattoo, strange things commenced happening . . .Horrible, unearthly things! And the giant Haitian tom-tom became a drum of doom!"

Yes, as you can see, we have four stories from the dark side of music and entertainment today, including a dance of doom to go with that drum of doom, either way there's plenty of accursed doom to go around for everyone in our bounty of comic book sickness this week at the WFMU Comic Supplement!  Take your seat and dig in -  right after the jump!

Rabbits, Pussycats, and Dreamy Romance

"The jam session was like a strange, new world to me! The savage, rhythmic beat of the drums had us all in a dreamy hypnotic trance! But the beating of my heart rose above the drums as Guy's arm stole around me!"

(from "My Jazz-Time Romance")

Today we have a pretty varied assortment of treats for you, everything from some pretty silly funny-animal and kid's comics, to a very wordy adult romance book; and all dealing with some facet of music or other. Stay tuned after the JUMP for four short stories sure to make you bop!