The next morning

The Next Morning was started when five musicians from Trinidad and the Virgin Islands met up in New York City and started a heavy psych band. The music isn't quite heavy metal but I do hear a bit of Deep Purple in the organ playing. Psychedelic music was already out of style for a few years when NEXT MORNING was released, this may have been the last record to pan the music from channel to channel. Anybody that doesn't like fuzz or phasing may want to stay away from this album.

The band was apparently popular in New York City. Popular enough that Columbia Records almost signed the band. The band signed with a Roulette Records subsidiary instead. Calla Records didn't have enough muscle to get the band a hit record though. That's too bad. Some of these songs are pretty good.

I found this a few weeks ago at Vertical House Records. It's wasn't on my want list but for only two dollars, I was glad to find it anyway.

Lonely woman

actually, it's four lonely women.

The stars are beautiful still

Remember.

The Rainbow

I watch the white dawn gleam,
To the thunder of hidden guns.
I hear the hot shells scream
Through skies as sweet as a dream
Where the silver dawnbreak runs.
And stabbing of light
Scorches the virginal white.
But I feel in my being the old, high, sanctified thrill,
And I thank the gods that dawn is beautiful still.

From death that hurtles by
I crouch in the trench day-long
But up to a cloudless sky
From the ground where our dead men lie
A brown lark soars in song.
Through the tortured air,
Rent by the shrapnel's flare,
Over the troubled dead he carols his fill,
And I thank the gods that the birds are beautiful still.

Where the parapet is low
And level with the eye
Poppies and cornflowers glow
And the corn sways to and fro
In a pattern against the sky.
The gold stalks hide
Bodies of men who died
Charging at dawn through the dew to be killed or to kill.
I thank the gods that the flowers are beautiful still.

When night falls dark we creep
In silence to our dead.
We dig a few feet deep
And leave them there to sleep -
But blood at night is red,
Yea, even at night,
And a dead man's face is white.
And I dry my hands, that are also trained to kill,
And I look at the stars - for the stars are beautiful still.

-- Leslie Coulson 1889-1916

Enough.

You can't do wrong and get by

no matter how hard you may try

Happy birthday!

Bob Dylan!

It's trash

About 10 years ago, Joey Tacon organized a little garage festival here in Huntsville. It was a pretty good weekend. The Immortal Lee County Killers, The Panic Buttons, The Squares, The Lost Sounds and Joey's own band the 3Ds were some of the bands that appeared. I think Deadbolt played but that may have been a different night.

Joey wanted to have some prizes and things to giveaway during the shows. He gave away some 3Ds records. I put 23 obscure songs (with one ringer) from some hard to find (in Huntsville anyway) or out of print garage comps onto a C-60 to hand out to the first people through the door.

I had pretty much forgotten about the tape until a few weeks ago when I was talking to a guy at a show. He said that he still had a copy but it was worn out. So I made a CD. It's the same songs from the original tape in a slightly different running order. If either of you regular readers have the original tape, there is a bonus song included this time.

These are some of my favorite garage records. I've already posted a few of them on the blog so they'll sound familiar to both of you regular readers. Some of the songs have been covered by younger garage bands, some are really obscure and one has never been comped anywhere else. The ringer was a huge hit in 1966 but was not available in 1998. Except for a couple of songs, I stayed away from records easily available on the NUGGETS, PEBBLES, TEENAGE SHUTDOWN and BACK FROM THE GRAVE series.

Enjoy!

Improving our lie

Eddy & the Back Nine were one of the many theme bands that popped up in the early Nineties. One of the best things about Eddy & The Back Nine was that they didn't stick around until the joke got old. The band released IMPROVING OUR LIE on Super-Electro in 1993. I like it.

The 4 song record is really short, probably a good thing when your theme is golf. The whole thing is over in 7 minutes - less time than it took to pick out the sweaters for the photo shoot.

Eddy was Ed Fotheringham, the artist responsible for numerous record covers on Sub Pop and a lot of other labels. Fotheringham drew several covers for the underappreciated Flop, they returned the favor by playing the Back Nine with Eddy.

I am a pilgrim traveler

on the long road home

Happy birthday!

Jonathon Richman!

Death of survival

Been a while since I posted a Huntsville record so here is a couple songs by Don (Nicky) Jolly & the Oscillations. The 45 was released on the Carrousel (their spelling) label in 1972. Like Ron Moore, Don (Nicky) Jolly was caught up in the early 70's Jesus Rock movement, he's not as subtle as Moore though. The Oscillations make up for it though, playing some really nice Byrdsian country rock behind song writer Don Copeland's fire & brimstone lyrics.

I wonder if any radio stations played this record. The religious radio stations around North Alabama wouldn't have played any rock songs, I doubt any of the rocks stations played it either.

I'd never heard anything about the band or the label before I found this 45. Haven't found anything since then either. Any of you guys know anything?

It'd be nice to find a cleaner copy of the record though.

It's the world around me

that's gone all wrong

I'm just here to get my baby out of jail

(Call your mother! You ungrateful little brat.)

Fabulous

From 1990, here's the Mummies Crust Club single. It's a tribute to the Wailers with the Mummies playing two Wailers songs and mimicking a Wailers LP cover. Neither of these songs has been released on CD yet and I don't expect them to make it anytime soon.

For anyone that cares: this October, the Mummies are playing their first show in 6 years. Book those reservations now!

They don't tolerate ordinary folk

and folk look at me strange

Wilmore

I didn't know anything about Ron Moore when I found a copy of WILMORE, his '71 LP at the Opera House in South Pittsburgh, TN. The record was cheap and the insert compared Moore to Neil Young, James Taylor & Arlo Guthrie so I figured I'd take a chance. WILMORE is a good record, Moore leads an acoustic trio through a set of pretty good songs. Moore has had a long career as a Christian singer but the record never gets preachy.

I hear more James Taylor and Arlo Guthrie than Neil Young. Neil fans will like this record. So will Steve Goodman and David Ackles fans, even though Moore doesn't really sound like any of them. This is early seventies acoustic rock - if that doesn't scare you off, you'll probably like WILMORE.

Moore self released the LP (and a string of others) on his own Airborn label. Details about Moore are not easy to find. I think Moore was based in Kentucky (that's the mailing address listed on the pamphlet) but he may have been from Michigan. He travelled a lot, songs were written in Michigan, Seattle, Dothan Alabama and one was written in South Korea in 1965. Moore lives in North Carolina now and is still playing guitar.

Seems like everybody in the whole round world

is down on me

Baby, what you want me to do?

Got me running, got me hiding,
Got me run, hide, hide, run anyway you want to let it roll
yeah, yeah, yeah
You got me doin' what you want me
So baby why you want to let go

Going up, going down
Got me up, down, down, up, anyway you want to let it roll
yeah, yeah, yeah
You got me doin' what you want me
So baby why you want to let go

Got me peeping, got me hiding
Got me peep, hide, peep, hide, anyway you want to let it roll
yeah, yeah, yeah
You got me doin' what you want me
So baby why you want to let go

- Jimmy Reed