IMHO, absolutely priceless.
I should add that, in other jaw-dropping Willie news, he will be (sit down please) opening for none other than The Who in Bethel NY on May 28.
This is not as unpreceded as it sounds -- Willie toured Europe as the opening act for The Who in 1980 -- but still. How cool?
And here's my favorite track -- a glorious one-man version of the Left Banke's always delightful "Walk Away Renee."
Ronnie's been releasing this sort of stuff, beginning in the pre-CD era, for as long as I've known him, which is going back to our late 70s days in the Village. But this current album is just spectacularly good.
Hey -- get yourself over to Amazon and stream the damn thing already, won't you? You'll thank me.
That said, it was an exhausting couple of days, and I'm spending the next 24 hours a) crashing and b) frolicking with hookers 'n' blow.
See you on Wednesday with a gorgeous new song by a long time friend of PowerPop.
Flexi-discs were all the rage in the late 50s and early 60s; The Magazine Known as Stereo Review did several, including an absolutely hilarious parody of baroque music -- authored by Glenn Gould -- entitled "So You Want to Write a Fugue?". I should add that I had that Mad disc for years and played it obsessively when it first came out.
PS: Yeah, yeah, I know I promised on Friday to post a bad song referencing what had happened to my foot recently, but I figured that would have been self-indulgent even for me.
...sings the lead vocal on "Holy Man," a Dennis Wilson solo track left unfinished at the time of the Beach Boys legend's tragic death.
Being a Southern California surfer dude himself, I guess Hawkins kind of related to Dennis. In any case, a beautiful job (originally released on the 2008 Sony reissue of Wilson's 1977 masterpiece, Pacific Ocean Blue).
As of this writing, we don't know the circumstances or causes of Hawkins' passing; all we know is that now both of them are gone. And as I usually say in these circumstances, this death shit is really beginning to piss me off.
Had a hellishly awful day, but check us out on Monday, and all will be explained. Plus I'll be posting a song by an artist you never for a minute expected would be featured on this here blog.
In the meantime, I couldn't resist posting the above.
Have a great weekend, everybody!!!
I mean, seriously -- that could have been done by Jean Cocteau or Salvador Dali.
I have a friend who might know what the problem is, and hopefully regular posting will resume soon.
Damn, this is frustrating.
The song itself is probably best known for being featured in John Waters' Hairspray, which is one of the best movie dance sequences of the last few decades, but the above -- which was I unaware of until last weekend -- just knocks me out.
I should add that the two dancers are named Joan Darby and Joe Cash. The question now before the court is whether the sobriquets were adapated by the late Darby Crash, lead singer of the legendary LA punk band The Germs, for his more familiar nom de rock.
Having a bit of a malaise today -- interesting new music posting resumes on Monday.
And he also wrote this -- which couldn't be any more stylistically different...
...and which was brilliantly rocked out by The Rolling Stones and every subsequent garage band ever since.
Plus he married Julie London, the hottest 50s chanteuse of them all...
...and then went on to become a TV star acting opposite his spouse...
...on a hit 70s doctor show.
Pretty fly for a white guy, 'natch.
Words fail me over how cool this is.
I should add that I was lucky enough to see Dolly at a small club in the mid-70s. Also, my then girlfriend -- who was relatively short -- acquired one of Dolly's stage costumes from the period (one of those one piece bell-bottom jumpsuits with the mirrors running down the side of both legs) at a charity auction, and it fit her like the proverbial glove.
Except for you know where, obviously.
...and their unmixed and almost finished version of "In My Own Good Time".
https://app.box.com/s/jiwibh4wpye4jxui1cmdgyc44c23t39y
Sounds pretty darn cute even at this stage -- by which I mean it could pass for Rockpile.
And it's possibly the lead track from a forthcoming EP as yet untitled.
Pretty freaking great, I'd say if I was any judge of horseflesh.
Starting Monday -- genuine new music, some of which is by people I know personally and some isn't.
Have a great weekend, everybody!
[h/t Matt Mitchell]
I don't know if the song's authors, i.e. Joe Strummer and Mick Jones, ever heard that version, although I presume they must have, but I'm pretty sure they would have dug the hell out of it if they did.
And as we all know, the most memorable moment at Woodstock was when Curly sang "Almost Cut My Hair."
More Dwight Yoakam tomorrow, and then new music on Friday.
Okay, gonna put up one more ace Yoakam cover version tomorrow, and then posting of new music resumes on Thursday.
I honestly don't know how I missed that at the time -- Yoakam directed the clip, BTW -- given that it was a top 20 hit on the American country charts, #64 on the pop charts, and used in a Gap commercial.
In any case, I've been a Yoakam fan since forever -- for those boots alone, if truth be told -- and better late than never.
[h/t Matt Mitchell]
Enjoy, and have a great weekend, everybody!]
NYMary:
I must confess I find it a little odd to be writing this -- the Beach Boys music is pretty much my lingua franca, and the idea that they need defending feels weird to me given how much I love them (although I understand your skepticism, at least in the abstract. After all, Mike Love sucks).
In any event, here's why I think they deserve respect from mere mortals like you and me.
TEN REASONS THE BEACH BOYS ARE SELF-EVIDENTLY ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT AMERICAN BANDS OF THE SIXTIES. IF NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT.
1. They invented an instantly recognizable sound of their own, one that practically defines a genre. Very few rock artists can make that claim. (Chuck Berry with "Johnny B Goode", The Byrds with "Tambourine Man," the Ramones, and maybe U2). That alone should guarantee the Beach Boys immortality.
2. What Raymond Chandler did for California in prose the Beach Boys did in music. They reflected a place and a time and made a kind of poetry out of it. They were not fake.
3. Five part harmonies, astoundingly gorgeous. And Brian's conception -- mating progressive jazz voicings a la the Four Freshman with classic doo-wop -- was totally unique. Here's a 1965 live clip that proves the point -- and if this a capella version of the Freshman's "Their Hearts Were Full of Spring"doesn't put a lump in your throat, you need to check your meds.
4. From their inception in the early 60s, they were pretty much the only self-contained rock band in America. Wrote all their own songs, produced their own records. Who else was doing that?
5. Kick-ass live act. If you doubt it, listen to "Beach Boys Concert," get a video of their closed-circuit show from '64, or find "The TAMI Show" video, in which -- performing on the same bill with the Stones, James Brown and most of the Motown acts, they tear the audience to shreds. Carl Wilson was a killer surf guitarist, and the rhythm section was as good as anybody in rock at the time.
Here's their British TV debut on Top of the Pops -- from 1964, totally live versions of "I Get Around" and "When I Grow Up."
6. Contrary to myth, they were not white bread at all. Carl and Dennis Wilson were as soulful singers in the r&b sense as anybody else working in the mid-Sixties. And that includes Stevie Winwood or Felix Cavliere.
7. The car and surf songs are actually quite brilliant. Who else ever conceived of writing love songs to a carburetor? And has any rock song ever conveyed as much sheer teenage elan as "Fun Fun Fun" or "I Get Around"?
8. Brian's best songs from the early period anticipate the confessional singer/songwriter LA genre. "Don't Worry Baby" may be as nakedly emotional and self-revealing as anything Joni Mitchell ever wrote. Ditto "Warmth of the Sun" or "In My Room" or "When I Grow Up."
9. The albums that preceed the sainted "Pet Sounds" and "Smile" are masterpeices. "The Beach Boys Today," Brian's first real studio concept album, is masterly; "When I Grow Up" isn't even the best song on it (try "Don't Hurt My Little Sister" or the astounding Sinatra goes r&b of "The Back of My Mind" sung by Dennis). It's every bit as good as "Rubber Soul." in terms of consistency and melodic invention. The follow-up --"Summer Days and Summer Nights," of which "California Girls" is simply the icing on the cake, is even better -- it's every bit Brian's "Revolver." He never used the studio more impressively than "Let Him Run Wild" or emulated the Beatles with the riffy brilliance of "Girl Don't Tell Me."
10. The album that follows the sainted "Pet Sounds" and "Smile" is another masterpiece. "Wild Honey" is one of the handful of great white r&b albums of the period, and if you doubt it check out the title song or Carl's gorgeous reading of Stevie Wonder's "I Was Made to Love Her." And in it's back to basics way, it's very much of a piece with the Beatles "White Album."
I could go on about the Beach Boys early 70s output -- you could make a fabulous comp album with songs like "Marcella" (one of their best ever rockers), "This Whole World" (Brian's canniest pocket symphony), "All I Wanna Do"(the most glorious use of reverb in history), "Bluebirds Over the Mountain" (progressive rockabilly, if you can believe it), "Do It Again" and any number of others up through "Trader" on HOLLAND.
The decline after that was a drag, to be sure, but you get my point....the Beach Boys have a huge body of really transcendent work, and Brian wasn't the only big talent in the band.
Have I mentioned that Mike Love sucks?
Haven't heard much more of it, but so far so good. I'll keep you posted.
In the meantime, from the late 80s or early 90s, please enjoy The Souvenirs -- aka The Floor Models 2.0 featuring some schmuck whose name rhymes with Sleeve Nimels on keyboards -- live at the late lamented Kenny's Castaways doing the Banke's great "She May Call You Up Tonight."
Shot by a fan with a camcorder, and turn it up!!!
My stress level is through the roof about this. Regular posting resumes after I have a tooth yanked.
The 45 of this crossed my desk at The Magazine Formerly Known as Stereo Review back in the day, and I remember thinking -- and possibly writing about -- that as sappy as "My Love" was, at least this proved that Macca could still rock authoritatively. And I played it pretty much until the vinyl wore out.
I should add that there's a studio version of this (that was originally gonna be included on Wings' Red Rose Speedway) that's available on YouTube, but the above concert version is much better.
