Happy birthday!

Willie Nelson!

There's a wonderful invention,

it's called the radio.

Sad patterns upon her face,

She waits for you.

Enter Hell

Here’s a single by Sam D’Angelo who was the lead singer/keyboard player in the mighty Sister Ray. I think these songs were recorded as demos for Sister Ray. This one made the cut and the band recorded it and used it to open TO SPITE MY FACE, their second LP.

“This Was My Blood” starts out good but goes on about three minutes longer than it should. The guitar reminds me of early Labradford. “Enter Hell” is the keeper on the record, it would fit right in on The Velvet Underground’s WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT.

The 45 came out in 1990, right around the same time that Sister Ray’s second LP was released. I’ve heard rumors of a third Sister Ray album but I’ve never seen it. Sam D’Angelo released a solo LP in 2002, I’ve never heard it either. Somebody needs to put together a comp with all of Sister Ray’s 45 tracks.

There's no future

There's no escape.

Decency Today Means Morality Tomorrow

I found this record at a flea market a few years ago. After I bought the record and was heading back to the car, an old guy stopped me and said "I used to be a member of SINA! I tried to dress my dog. He bit me."

INSIDE SINA is a recording of a talk given to potential members by Bruce Spencer, Executive Vice-President of SINA.

From the liner notes by SINA President G. Clifford Prout Jr.:

SINA, the Society for Indecency to Naked Animals was founded by my father who believed that all animals should wear clothing for the sake of decency. He meant any dog, cat, horse or cow that stands higher than 4 inches or is longer than 6 inches.

We, as human beings, are members of the animal kingdom and have established a social custom of wearing clothes; it stands to reason that our animal friends should also be permitted to wear decent clothing in public!

Most animals behave better when they are permitted to share our social habits. Ask any SINA member. Strangely enough, people let animals share their food, homes and autombiles; then they turn them loose to romp and play in the nude. It never made sense to my father and it doesn't to me nor the thousands of SINA members.

I, G. Clifford Prout Jr., as President of SINA, today carry the plea for animal decency to all parts of the world. You may have heard about my campaign on radio and television; leading newspapers such as the San Francisco Chronicle, New York Daily News, Los Angeles Times, London Sunday Telegraph and hundreds of others have written extensively about SINA.

[...]

SINA's motto, "Decency Today Means Morality Tomorrow," remains the key to our success as thousands of people continue to rally to our cause and lend their moral support.

Clifford Prout Jr., President
Society for Indecency to Naked Animals

Dead cat

on the line.

Can anybody explain what this song title means?

Rockin'

this joint tonight!

I had hoped I wouldn't have to post this

I have been waiting for confirmation on this, I was hoping it was just a rumor. It's not. Crap.

---------------------

Love's Arthur Lee undergoing treatment

Love frontman Arthur Lee is battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia, according to a post from Los Angeles-based club booker Liz Garo on noted Love fan site LoveWithArthurLee.com.

Lee has undergone three weeks of chemotherapy but continued treatment and a possible bone marrow transplant are looming.

As Lee is uninsured, friends are organizing a Los Angeles benefit concert for late May or early June. Garo says such venues as the Avalon, Disney Hall, the Greek Theatre and the El Rey Theatre are in consideration and that Calexico, Cake and X have been contacted to participate.

"We are looking for artists to perform a few of Arthur's songs that capture the spirit and magic of Arthur Lee and Love," Garo writes.

---------------------

Good luck Arthur!

Whatever happened to the Art In The Dark?

I’ve had these songs ready to post for about a week now. The problem is that I don’t know anything about this band. Before anybody writes to say that’s never stopped me before, let me add that I should know a little about Art In The Dark. I read every issue of Tasty World back when it was still around, I’ve read books about Athens GA music in the eighties and I still don’t know anything about the band. I think I may have even seen them in ’85.

Art In The Dark released a 4-song EP in 1983. The record was produced by Mitch Easters at his Drive-In Studios in January and September of that year. This song is pretty much a textbook example of jangle. The whole record is good, it might’ve been a paisley underground classic if the band had lived in Los Angeles instead of Athens, GA.

The band seems to have changed their name to The Icons for their LP called ART IN THE DARK. The Icons get production credit anyway. The record was recorded by John Keane. The band covered Big Star, there’s another textbook jangle song and a couple other good ones. There is also a fake live song that I won’t force on you.

I think there was another EP in there somewhere but I’ve never seen it. Sometimes, Art In The Dark reminds me of The Connells. They were fairly popular just a few years later, Art In The Dark should’ve stuck around a little longer. I don’t know when the band broke up. Or when they got together either.

So why have Art In The Dark been forgotten? Roger Lyle Brown only mentions them once in his book Party Out Of Bounds, Trouser Press doesn’t mention them at all, Allmusic does but just barely, the RockAthens page has the band member’s names and 3 pictures. There’s no websites for the band or the guys in the band. There was something here but it’s expired. Where'd they go?

Happy birthday

Clyde Stubblefield, the funky drummer!

Gideon

and the sword.

Roll away

the stone.

Song of the Cove Creek Dam

Someone I work with was talking about this story that was in the paper this morning and I told him about “The Balled Of The Cove Creek Dam.” He wanted to hear the song so here’s a post from last year:

“"He never did have worldly goods, because if they'd of had it, and seen someone else needed it, that's where it would have gone. He'd give a person the shirt on his back if they needed it worse that he did," said his daughter-in-law Anna Burnett, of Sharp's Chapel. Ruble Cleatus Burnett was 37 years old in 1935 when he wrote the "Song of the Cove Creek Dam." He had just purchased 50 acres of land, after having apparently rented it for some years, when the TVA land appraisers looked it over. He supported his wife and three children, his older brother, and mother in a three room house by the sale of chickens, eggs and a tobacco crop. His income in 1933 was $180, and his expenses on the farm just $30.75. He fed the family with two milk cows, two hogs, 50 chickens and 17 ducks, by TVA's count. The TVA interviewer also noted: "House is a small boxed one, and is equipped with very little furniture," indicating no car, radio, piano, phonograph, sewing machine, floor covering, or dining or living room furniture in the home. The interviewer considered Burnett "suspicious," and noted, "He said the T.V.A. was a bad thing for the people of this section," and, optimistically, "his conversation leeds altogether along the line that he believes the government will jip him But began to gather a different idea before I left him [sic]."

“"I believe what hurt him most was moving the graves," says Aundra Ditmore of Maryville, Burnett's daughter. He was hurt by the removal of his infant daughter, who died from meningitis, and his father's remains to a new cemetery, and he grieved for the families whom he felt would not be able to recover their loved ones in poorly marked or unmarked graves.

“As it turned out, Burnett did not have to move his family's home. TVA leased a right of way from him, but did not force him to a new location. For a couple of years he owned a guitar, and, rarely, sang for friends and neighbors. His son, Milus, remembers hearing him sing the Cove Creek Dam song only three or four times, but learned a number of the verses himself.

“Norris Dam continued to affect his life. His daughter, Bonnie Sanford, remembered, "Someone asked Dad, 'what good are the C.C. boys?' He said, 'For son-in-laws.'" Both daughters married C.C.C. members from the nearby camp. He finally got electricity, around 1950, 14 years after the promise of it. He fished in Norris Lake occasionally, but more often scouted the banks for fishing tackle abandoned in the brush, which could be reused or resold.” -- http://www.state.tn.us/environment/tn_consv/archive/songs.htm

Since Dr. Kirkland was unable to locate Cleatus Burnett, the song was by a Knoxville high school student named Eugene Wallace.

------

And here’s an update on the Mullin’s Cove graveyard: TVA may have left the graves underwater at the family's request.

I'll write some new stuff soon, honest!

Good news!

Friends,

I found my drums!

As you can imagine I am excited, relieved, slightly dumbstruck and ready to get them back.

My band mates encouraged me to create a flyer and distribute them to the closest pawn shops. I reluctantly did this, thinking it was a lost cause. To their credit, it worked. I am still very stunned and excited.

Believe it or not, they were at the pawn shop closest to my house, about ¾ of a mile down the road. The police have indicated it will be one to three weeks before the drums are released to me, now that they are evidence in a robbery, but I will get them back.

I want to extend a heart felt thank you to everyone that took the time to email, call or simple stop by and express their feelings about the robbery. I appreciate all of your concern and look forward to seeing you from behind the drums at a show soon.

If you forwarded my original "Stolen Drums" email to any groups or other individuals, I would greatly appreciate this one being forwarded also.

Thanks.
Barry

"He gets the job done. The guy has soul"

New Orleans R&B star begins posthumous mayoral bid

Ernie K-Doe has some big hurdles to overcome to win his bid for mayor of hurricane-ravaged New Orleans: he lacks the political experience and financial clout of many of his rivals.

He's also been dead for almost five years.

No matter, said the widow of the flamboyant rhythm-and-blues singer and one of the city's most enduring characters as she launched his tongue-in-cheek campaign for the April 22 vote.

"He's the only one qualified -- that's my opinion," Antoinette K-Doe said on Saturday at a rally outside the Mother-in-Law Lounge, the nightclub that bears the name of K-Doe's biggest hit song.

"He gets the job done. The guy has soul," she said as supporters enjoyed live music, beer and heaping helpings of red beans and rice. "And I'm speaking like he's still here because in memories he is still here with us. He gets along with everybody and he makes things happen."

eating handfuls of dust...

i wish I could get somebody to talk to me about this band.
I'm not even sure why I like them so much. They require a lot of patience, especially from a spaz like me, since their songs are so down-tempo. But they're really sad and really funny at the same time....or maybe I'm really sad and funny at the same time.

Anyway, download and discuss:

The Handsome Family, "The Bottomless Hole"
The Handsome Family, "The Song Of A Hundred Toads"

From the album Singing Bones.

Time brings

about a change.

Help Barry!

From my e-mail:

This is a sad day for me.

My early 1960's Ludwig blue sparkle drum set that I use for the Orangu-tones was stolen out of my garage, Tuesday, April 4. I normally keep it at the Worm Tone Studio, but moved it to record with my 1930's Ludwig and Ludwig set Sunday night. Nothing else was stolen from my garage, so I am suspicious that it was a specific robbery.

For those of you in town (The Orangutones are in Denver - KS), frequent eBay shoppers, or pawn/thrift shoppers, I would appreciate you keeping an eye out for it. The most distinguishing characteristic is that the drums were protected by orange Endura drums cases. I think I am the only drummer in town (maybe anywhere) with orange cases. The other identifying element is the patch on the bass drum where the late model rack tom bracket was formerly mounted. I repaired this with a blue sparkly patch that is evident if viewed at an angle.

I realize the drums are probably long gone, but I wanted to get as many eyes out as possible. I did file a police report, but do not have confidence it will do any good.

9 x 13 rack tom and orange case
5 x 14 snare drum and orange case
16 x 16 floor tom and orange case
22 x 14 bass drum (with a hand painted "Orangu-tones" drum head) and
orange case

Thanks.
Barry

Here's a picture.

http://www.theorangu-tones.com/

Patterns

This album has been spending a lot of time on the record player lately. Then I remembered that it’s been a while since I posted any jazz stuff so here’s an album by The Modern Jazz Quartet.

I think this 1960 record is the only release that the Modern Jazz Quartet had on United Artists Records. It’s a good one. The music was written for a movie called Odds Against Tomorrow starring Robert Ryan and Harry Belafonte. I’ve never seen the movie but it looks like it’s a good film.

One thing I like about the music is that almost every note is a short one. There are no vocals, horns, strings or guitars on the album, it’s only piano, vibes, bass and drums, even the cymbals are kept to a minimum. Pianist John Lewis wrote and arranged all six songs. “Skating In Central Park” is a classic.

United Artists went out of business before the dawn of the digital era so PATTERNS has never been on CD. In 1990, Blue Note Records released the record on a CD called ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW. Same songs, different name, different cover. It’s out of print too but you can find used copies cheap if you look around.

Riff

"Riff - The sound made by a very thin dog." - Rick Johnson R.I.P.

Another great one gone

R.I.P. Gene Pitney.

sigh.

One shot and I'll find peace

The Bickersons started out as a skit with Don Ameche and Frances Langford on the Chase & Sanborn hour in the mid-forties and eventually became a popular radio show and finally a TV series in the fifties. This LP was the first of a pair of LPs that were recorded as part of a Bickersons reunion in ’61 and ‘62.

I didn’t know any of that when I found this LP at a flea market about twenty years ago. I got the record just because Don Ameche was on it. I just knew Ameche from his movies, he started out as a singer and ended up in Hollywood. 1943’s Heaven Can Wait with Gene Tierney is a worth watching.

When I got the record, I listened to it once, didn’t laugh a much so I put the record in a box and forgot about it. Around five years ago I heard that a copy of THE BICKERSONS was on sale for $150 somewhere in New York City. Several weeks after that I remembered that I had a copy of the record and dug through boxes until I found it. I listened to the record again and laughed more than I did the first time I listened to it.

Here’s the whole record. I hope you enjoy it! Try again in ten years if you don't.

Collector’s Choice released a CD of both Bickersons records (also available on Columbia vinyl as THE BICKERSONS REMATCH) in 2003 but I think it’s out of print already. The LPs are all over E-Bay for ten bucks or so. And if you really want more, here’s a whole bunch of radio shows you can download.

Look for me

I'll be there.