DINGLEBERRY BLUES & HERSHEY HIGHWAY biker joe warren

The only reason there's dirty ditties on this site, is to get traffic.

While here, and foraging for more filth, people may just take a moment to check out Martin Briley, Bobby Cole, Ron Nagle or Sarah Kernochan.

Yeah, right. To use Colin Quinn's catchphrase, "That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!"

If you're not sure about downloading songs with such titles as "Dingleberry Blues" and "Hershey Highway," here are some sample lines:

"Look here bitch, that shit's makin' my mustache itch. Go on slut, get in there and wash your butt...Well I got one stuck in my teeth, another one caught in my eye, I got one under my fingernail and I put it back in the pie..."
And
"Do you ride that Hershey HIghway? We've already done it your way, let's do it my way...Some girls don't like it but the others think it's really a hit. But what I don't understand is how them faggots can do it when it hurts me just to shit."

Who'd record such things?

It was Biker Joe Warren, who never got to be a household or outhouse name, like David Allan Coe. Good taste and bad breaks (and maybe bad brakes) did him in. He was always living dangerously. A patriotic redneck, he joined the Army, served in Vietnam, and nearly got himself killed, earning a Purple Heart and a Silver Star.

Back home in '69, Joe ended up doing two years in prison for holding less than two joints of weed. In '71 he began his career as a singer and songwriter, but it sputtered out of control, and so did Joe. Between near-lethal accidents and trying to make a living, he slipped in and out of show business, finally making some kind of dent in 1985 when his lone indie album of filth was released.

More ups and downs followed, and a decade later, he was still hawking the same album, re-issued...and still having hard luck. In 1996 another serious accident laid him horizontal for months. Not long after he recovered, he was knocked more than horizontal by an 18 wheeler. This time, he would rest six feet down.

The legendary Biker Joe is a cult figure, and you can literally buy a cult figure of him, as well as t-shirts, memorabilia, and music by going over to: http://www.bikerjoe.com/order.html. In the meantime, sample some of his shit:
Dingleberry Blues/Hershey Highway

Update: Nov, 2011. Rapidshare's annoying "30 days without a download kills it" policy killed the original links. They are back via a better company.

Dingleberry Blues
Hershey Highway

Download or listen on line. No capcha codes. No porn ads. No percentage going to the blogger for his "hard work." The hard work was done by the artist.

The 4th of July: NO MORE HOT DOGS hasil adkins

A few days ago the Fourth of July offered more reasons why Americans are hated around the world. They set off millions of dollars in useless fireworks, money that could be better spent on food. And..

They wasted food. A lot of it. On recreational eating and eating contests. The poster boy for gluttony is Joey Chestnut, winner of a Fourth of July "hot dog eating contest." Over 5 dozen hot dogs went down his gullet in a matter of minutes.

Joey Chestnut was that hungry? Or that gay? Anyone with a mania for shoving hot dogs in his mouth is VERY VERY GAY.

When millions around the world would be happy to get $2 worth of rice dropped from a helicopter into the mud at their feet...Joey Chestnut and his competition made pigs of themselves. In America, eating is a recreational pastime, and now it's becoming a National Pastime. Chestnut won $20,000 for less than ten minutes' work, which puts him right up there with the money sports figures get per minute.

That's ill, folks. The salute to Joey, and other conspicuous consumers who have nothing better to do than eat for recreation, is "No More Hot Dogs," sung by the late rockabilly madman Hasil (as in Hassle) Adkins.

Also in the zip file, 15 more including "Chicken Walk," "Let's Slop Tonight," "I Need Your Head," "Big Fat Mama" and "The Hunch."

Hasil laughingly sings it about a woman he's about to kill: "I'm gonna put yo head on my wall, and you won't eat no more hot dogs! Ah ha ha ha ha!" But let's cheerfully imagine Joey Chestnut instead. Yes, Joey Chestnut roasting on an open fire. It would be a great idea, since there are starving cannibals in Africa. Maybe a few could have a contest; grind up a pound of Joey Chestnut for about 180 people, and see who can gobble it all down fastest. Winner can have a ball. Or both of them.



"NO MORE HOT DOGS" and 15 other wild songs from HASIL ADKINS

ALLEN KLEIN - Dead on the Fourth of July

Controversial rock manager Allen Klein was alternately praised and condemned by various members of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. In both cases, he made lots of money for the group...and for himself...and ended up with full pockets each time he was finally shown the door.

Not the typical "Mr. Businessman," Klein was an accountant who seriously wanted to help naive performers out. In a classic example, he promised Bobby Darin he could find $100,000 in missing royalty payments, and did. His deal with Darin was no fee unless he did his job, and he did it well. He managed Sam Cooke and won the naive singer a huge contract with RCA including a hefty percentage of record sales. His informal entry into the world of The Beatles began when he impressed John Lennon with his fan-like knowledge of John's songs.

Some Beatles theorists believe Lennon's championing of Klein to become the new business manager, while Paul McCartney favored his father-in-law, was the closest single reason for The Beatles break-up. Klein initially seemed to be doing great work for the Fab Four, straightening out messes, getting rid of parasites, negotiating lucrative deals, and even rescuing the debacle of "Let It Be" and bringing in Phil Spector to turn a mess of tapes into a successful album release. Klein would later buy Spector's Philles label. But it all soured, and Paul McCartney chose to leave the band. The name he muttered was Allen Klein, not Yoko Ono.

After The Beatles broke up, Klein continued to work with John Lennon and also with George Harrison, but inevitably, Allen's sharp business moves worked against him. His advice to John ("Don't have Yoko sing at your concerts...") may have been what most fans would've said...but John took it very personally. When the time came to sever his connection with Klein, Lennon wanted blood. He penned "Steel and Glass." As he did with the Maharishi (who became "Sexy Sadie") John curbed his temper enough to avoid naming Klein, but most everyone knew who the target was.

Typical Lennon cruelty...he struck a low blow in the opening stanza of the song, alluding to Klein's mother dying before Allen was even a year old:

"You're mother left you when you were small
But you're gonna wish you wasn't born at all."
The song ends:
"Well your mouthpiece squawks as he spreads your lies
But you can't pull strings if your hands are tied
Well your teeth are clean but your mind is capped
You leave your smell like an alley cat."

When Klein finally stepped away from The Beatles in 1977, he took over three million dollars in settlement money. No wonder he was given the name "Decline," in The Rutles parody film "All You Need Is Cash" the following year.

His motto was: "Though I walk in the shadow of the valley of evil, I have no fear, as I am the biggest bastard in the valley." He went on to many more deals in the music and movie world until he was slowed by Alzheimer's. He died at age 77.
You know John's version of the song. Here's a solid cover.

Update: Nov, 2011. Rapidshare's annoying "30 days without a download kills it" policy killed the original links. They are back via a better company.
STEEL AND GLASS

Download or listen on line. No capcha codes. No porn ads. No percentage going to the blogger for his "hard work." The hard work was done by the artist.

"Oh Say Can You..." Use UK Music For a USA Anthem

The most popular song on the Fourth of July? "Billie Jean," "Thriller" or "Bad." But this was an atypical year.
Usually, it's "The Star Spangled Banner."
The melody for that anti-British lyric...is from England.
It's a bit embarrassing that the two most famous American anthems...were swiped from the British! "My Country Tis Of Thee" uses the melody for "God Save the Queen." Perhaps this was intentional mockery; the Americans who broke away to form a new nation, conceived in liberty, and named after an Italian, would deliberately turn "God Save the Queen" into an anthem for the rebellion.
A bit more odd was grafting Francis Scott Key's poem onto a well-known British drinking song. Wasn't there a Rodd Keith around back then, who could "put your poem to original music" for a price?
"The Star Spangled Banner," which makes Americans so teary and proud, has the melody of "The Anacreontic Song," which was intended to help make the British more beery and loud.
What is an Anacreontic?
It's a person fond of Anacreon, a horny Greek poet who lived six centuries before Jesus began turning water into wine. Anacreon extolled drinking, as well as screwing, and his "songs" were honored by the affluent drunken doctors, lawyers and politicians who formed "The Anacreontic Society" ostensibly to perform and appreciate music on a boys' night out.
The song concocted by John Stafford (music) and Ralph Tomlinson (lyric) was published in 1778. In 1814 (the night of September 13th to be exact) the British attacked Fort McHenry, leading Francis Scott Key to write that despite "bombs bursting in air," the star-spangled American flag still waved. Over a 100 years later (1931 to be precise) the song was officially declared the American National Anthem, and a subsequent law was evidently passed demanding that it be played before every baseball game.
"The Anacreontic Song" is about music and booze (with some sex thrown in) and goes on and on for many stanzas. Fortunately most versions of the tune, including the one below, cut it to under 3 minutes.
The opening lines fancifully tell how members of the society went to heaven just to get old Anacreon's blessing on their drinking and music club:
"To Anacreon in Heav'n, where he sat in full glee,
A few Sons of Harmony sent a petition
That he their Inspirer and Patron would be;
When this answer arrived from the Jolly Old Grecian:
"Voice, Fiddle, and Flute, no longer be mute,
I'll lend you my name and inspire you to boot.
Chorus
And besides I'll instruct you, like me, to intwine
The Myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's Vine."

Venus and Bacchus...that says sex and drink, doesn't it?
It's almost as good as Albert Brooks' re-write: "As we stand here wait-ing for the ball game to start..."
The illfolks version is sung by John Gower. Like so many British patriots, he wasn't born in the U.K. He was born in Dar es Salaam (October 13 1931) and was schooled initially in Nairobi. Once he learned the initials U.K. he was sent home, and like most good British patriots, he did die in England (August 1, 2005.)
In between, Gower was a singer and actor. First billed as "The Boy Wonder from Wapping," he grew into the man with the burly bass voice. In 1955 he made his serious acting debut at the Arts Theater in "Listen to the Wind." A decade later, he achieved star billing in "The Wayward Way" and "Dearest Dracula." For the next 30 years, he was on many British TV shows, and appeared in a few films as well (he was Prince Fuspoli in "Evita.")
And now, get set for the Anacreontic song...ana one, ana two...
John Gower - ANACREONTIC SONG Instant download or listen on line. No pop-ups, porn ads or peculiarities.

A Blue Day for Terry Black, age 62

It's sad when someone dies, and doubly so when a person's once popular hits turn up in "Lost Jukebox" compilations. Terry Black, who died on June 28th, after many years suffering with multiple sclerosis, was once "Male Vocalist of the Year" in his native Canada. But that was back in 1965, and unless you care a lot, you may not know "Unless You Care," "Say It Again," or "Kisses For My Baby," all charted singles over 40 years ago.

"Say It Again" has that Mersey beat, even if it's Canadian. You'll recognize that familiar guitar underpinning from so many a Billy J. Kramer, Peter & Gordon or Gerry and the Pacemakers disc. (And yes, Gary Lewis & The Playboys adopted it in the U.S. to adorn "This Diamond Ring.")

Black's debut album was "Only Sixteen," released in 1965, and the teen idol wasn't much older than that. He grew from teen idol to actor-musician, appearing in the Toronto version of "Hair" in 1969. He ended up marrying cast member Laurel Ward, and together they formed the duo Black and Ward...and let's just say that their singles probably haven't even made it to a "Lost Jukebox" compilation.

When last heard from, Terry was hosting a radio show in British Columbia, playing jukebox favorites from the past. If you have some Terry Black records, play it, Sam. If you had a Terry Black single but it got lost or scratched over the years, check the download below for "Say It Again."
TERRY BLACK "Say it Again" Instant download or listen on line. No pop-ups or porn ads.

STORM PASSES - Gale Storm, 87

Gale Storm was one of the bright stars of the 50's, simultaneously winning TV ratings and scoring Top 40 hits.

Born in Texas, given an American Indian middle name that means "Bluebird," Josephine Owaissa Cottle was the winner on an "American Idol"-type radio show called "Gateway to Hollywood" at age 17. The prize was a movie contract at RKO.

A year or two later, Storm ended up at the low-budget Monogram studios, where she was tossed into dozens of films opposite such luminaries as Frankie Darro and Frank Graham. Gale became one of the early TV stars when she joined Charles Farrell for "My Little Margie" in 1952. After the run of that series, she co-starred with Zasu Pitts on her own "Gale Storm Show," also known as "Oh Susanna." Both shows played on Gale's ebullient personality as she got herself into and out of sitcom trouble.

During the run of "My Little Margie," Gale sang on a TV variety show, which caught the attention not of a record exec, but the guy's young daughter. She pleaded with Dad to sign her up, and he did. Randy Wood, of Dot Records, was taken by Storm, too, and she soon had some cover version hits for the label, including "I Hear You Knockin'" and her take on the R&B flirt tune "Lucky Lips." Gale put her authentic rockabilly sensibilities into her songs, becoming one of those early artists leading pop into rock. The perky singer rocked out a lot more often than label-mate Pat Boone did!

Storm was also adept at ballads, and in 1957 hit the Top Ten with "Dark Moon." Storm's retirement years were marked with conflict. She battled alcoholism, and was married twice; both husbands died. Health problems over the past few years sidelined her memorabilia show appearances, which were always a treat for her fans. She was known to be just as gracious and charming in real life as she was on TV. She died two days ago, June 27th, with her sons and their families close by. This contemplative moment suits "Dark Moon" and "Memories Are Made of This" a bit more than her trademark rave-ups, and that's the combo you get below.

DARK MOON/MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THIS Instant download or listen on line. No pop-ups, porn ads or peculiarities.

Brooks Rapes - Patti Smith "You Light Up My Life"

Joseph Brooks was a fairly pleasant-looking fellow when he sat at the piano and let Patti Smith holler his "You Light Up My Life" song. (This was on a kiddie TV show circa 1980...you can find it on YouTube). As you see from the photo (which expands if you click it, as most pix here do), the years have not been kind to him, which might explain why, even with his vast wealth, the ferret-faced weasel had to use casting-couch tactics to get any action.

Brooks allegedly raped nearly a dozen girls (18 to 24) many ready to face him in court. His M.O. between 2005 and 2008 was to have his middle-aged female assistant place the ads and make the girls feel comfortable enough for their "big moment." According to NYPD Lt. Adam Lamboy, one persuasive trick Brooks used was to wave his 1977 Academy Award for "You Light Up My Life" and say "This could be you holding the Oscar. I could make you a star."

From somebody who might be called to the stand to testify:
"I worked with Joe Brooks in the late 70's and he was doing this long before Craigslist. He'd thumb through modeling catalogues, pick one out, and take her to the Carlyle -- or to his apartment when his wife (an ex-playmate) wasn't there. There must be literally hundreds of women who 'auditioned' for him. Even Debbie Boone's mother wouldn't allow him to be alone with her because she sensed that he was a sociopath. And anyone who ever worked for him will tell you that they had to sue to get their money. Total wacko."

As for his best known tune, the dirge-like "You Light Up My Life," which moves from a grim, minor-key lament to an ear-splitting wail, it was always one of Patti Smith's favorites. Your download is from a late 70's live gig. Her mongrel yowl better serves the song's emotional core, which Patti might tell you has a religious sense of desolation and redemption. "Amazing Grace" and "You Light Up My Life" have similarities...the singer is a wretch who has been saved by a shining brand of love...and can't help bawling about it.

The difference is that "Amazing Grace" is graceful, while the clumsy "You Light Up My Life" could be used in a commercial for Eveready flashlights.

Patti's crowd goes wild with delight and amusement when she offers a few stanzas and you'll be lit up, too.
YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE

YASMINE - Belgian Leonard Cohen Fan - Hangs Herself

Placing a distant third in the coverage of celebrities who died on June 25th, Yasmine's departure at least got the front page in Belgium and the Netherlands. Elsewhere, it was Farrah and Jacko.

Known for covering Leonard Cohen songs ("Vandaag" was an entire album of Cohen material), the depressed singer was found hanging from a tree. Just two months earlier, her six-year marriage ended in divorce. They had a daughter, now three years old.

Yasmine (born Hilde Rens, March 3, 1972 – June 25, 2009) was from the province of Antwerp in Belgium, and was only 19 when she recorded her first album, "Mooi zo." She issued an album in every odd year from 1991 to 2001 (that's six, if you're counting).

2004 was the big year for the Leonard Cohen material, and a live concert DVD followed, with Yasmine covering "M'n Gasten" (The Guests), "In M'n eigen huis" (In my secret life), "Je Eeuwige Regenjas" (Famous Blue Raincoat), "Het Venster" (The Window), "Eerst nemen we Manhattan" (First we take Manhattan), "Je weet wie ik ben" (You Know Who I am), "Ik ben je man" (I'm your Man), "Wervelwind" (Avalanche) and others.

Motherhood seemed to take over as the more important aspect of Yasmine's life, with "Dans Me" her last single (2005) and "Licht Ontvlambaar" her last album (2006). She was probably also very busy with her other job...a television host (or "presenter," to use the European term).

Was Yasmine bleak? Yes and no. Though she could also handle minor-key ballads effectively, she was a polished singer whose hits were mostly very commercial pop. She was able to give her America-crazed fans in the Netherlands a taste of smooth R&B or lightly country-tinged rock in their own language.

Your samples:
LICHT ONTVLAMBAAR (translate it as "Highly Flammable.") Here's the title song on her last album, which includes some other spooky tracks (such as "Uur Blauw.") This dramatic and dark tune seems like it's going to morph into "First We Take Manhattan," but instead goes right into a hellish Dutch oven.
SUZANE/VINGERS OP MIJN HUID. Two songs on one download. First, a hit Leonard Cohen cover, performed live with Frank Boeiyen, followed by a sample of her smooth-groove work, the R&B-tinged tune that translates as "Fingers on my Skin." And yes, the rather abrupt ending is the song, not Illfolks editing.
IK VOEL ME BLAUW/RIJDEN. "I Feel Blue" and "Ride" were recorded in 2004. You don't need to speak the language...Yasmine's vocals betray ache, sadness, weariness and vulnerability. The heavy drums, the minor key guitar, and the gloomy violin help dampen the mood. Her suicide makes these two songs all the more chilling, poignant and depressing.
LICHT ONTVLAMBAAR
SUZANNE-VINGERS
IK VOEL ME BLAUW/RIJDEN 2004

Update: Nov, 2011. Rapidshare's annoying "30 days without a download kills it" policy killed the original links. Below is a link for "FIRST WE TAKE MANHATTAN," via a better company.

FIRST WE TAKE MANHATTAN sung in Yasmine's native language

Jimmy Dewar - Stumbledown Racer

You know Jimmy Dewar for his vocals on Robin Trower's first seven studio albums (plus "Robin Trower Live"). From 1973 to 1980 he was able to match the disoriented and spaced ruminations of Robin's guitar, with pained yet numbed vocals ("I Can't Wait Much Longer" being typical). He was also able to lead the charge on the galloping upbeat numbers that displayed real "Trower power."
On his extremely obscure solo disc, "Stumbledown Racer," you'll find him pursuing mainstream pop, personal and religious lyrics, and things lighter than heavy metal. If the title track sounds more suited to a Matthew Fisher solo album, it's because the disc was indeed produced by Mr. Fisher. While Fisher was able to work with Trower's style (they were in Procol Harum together, Fisher producing the "A Salty Dog" album) and was behind Robin's most successful records, he was also able to show the great versatility in Jimmy Dewar. The title track's notable for somber colors, regretful lyrics and pretty keyboard work. It's an original Fisher/Dewar tune, as is "Nature Child."
"Hosanna," a ballad with Biblical references to the newborn king, is also a serious departure from the world of Trower, and sounds more like a track from a Gary Brooker solo album...Brooker having dabbled so often in religious themes.
If you thought Dewar couldn't get farther away from Trower than that, hold on for "Bright Lights," with a chorus right out of the Elton John play book. Jimmy's pretty successful even though his voice is nowhere near an Elton John, or a Sedaka or Nick Gilder...the type of bright voice a pop tune usually requires. Another pop oddity is the rock chestnut "(Baby baby, you're) Out of Time," opening with some bright Farfisa-styled accents. "Heartbeat" is a croon with a Tex-Mex flavor, the kind of thing that Roy Orbison could've recorded during his MGM days. If you enjoy this, buying the CD itself would be a nice tribute to Jimmy, and you'll also be getting the liner notes, full musician credits and composer credits.
Yes, sometimes this rare find seems dated, but it's an interesting audio document. Fans of Trower may be disappointed, but those who admire the solo work of Procol's vocalists (Brooker and Fisher) will find this one sometimes in that league, and often similar in style to the era's Elton, Hall & Oates, Paul Rodgers and John Farnham albums.
Some facts about Dewar (October 12, 1942-May 16,2002) remain shrouded in mystery. Just why he left the Trower band hasn't been fully explained, nor the "progressive illness" (sometimes reported as brain damage) that began in 1987 and caused him to require constant medical care. Before his own death, his son passed away. And after Jimmy died, his wife soon followed. The grave marker is one of the many images you'll find at the dot.com bearing Jimmy Dewar's name.
JIMMY DEWAR

DIRK HAMILTON How Your Urine Hits the Sink

Over at Elektra in 1978, they thought they had the second coming of Van Morrison in Dirk Hamilton. Or another "new Dylan."

The lyrics for title track "Meet Me at the Crux" were scribbled all over the back cover. The idea was that anyone browsing the album would be awed by the song's edgy profundity.

The song opens: "Horace Tidas was murdered by the hatred that he leveled on himself. Guilty weighted, he walked around pretending he was somebody else..."
A while later, Dirk focuses his attention on an exotic dancer in a bar:
"Blame your mama. Egg a duck. I'm watchin' what your doin' and what your doin' sucks. It ain't bad timin' it ain't bad luck. When will you Meet Me at the Crux."
(Yes, ala Dylan, Dirk invented his own punctuation.)

A woman who seemed to know Horace Tidas: "She's blind but she sure can feel. She's crippled and she reverently kneels, in thanks for the new pair of wheels he got thrown in with the deals that he maimed her to seal."

This leads to another Dylanesque put-down of the woman with the sucky occupation:
"I'm watchin' your behind, out on the dance floor shakin' at eye level all the time. Stop and take a breather. Let me freshen up your drink. Explain to me in detail how your urine hits the sink."

If you aren't gettin' it all, Mr. Jones, then listen to the download several times.
Vincent Price, in Tallulah Bankhead's dressing room, watched her pause in the midst of the conversation to hoist herself onto the sink and piss. Since it was Tallulah, Vinnie was hardly shocked or surprised. He didn't go into detail how her urine hit the sink, but he did make note of this unusual event.

Other songs on Dirk's album include "Mouth Full of Suck" and "Billboard on the Moon," and his follow-up disc featured "Moses & Me" and "Colder than Mexican Snow." Challenging stuff, no? Dirk may have left Elektra scratching their heads, but he's kept sharp, with many more albums. The full details are on the dot.com bearing his name.

This intro-Dirktion could mark the beginning of a new artist you'll want to start following and collecting. If so, you can leave a thanks in the comment section. You can also use the comment section to explain in detail how your urine hits the sink. NEW LINK
Urine Luck! Dirk's a Click Away NEW LINK
Dirk's a pisser

A PETER SELLERS album from RON MOODY

You know Ron Moody...the guy who played Fagin in the musical "Oliver," a performance enjoyed by antisemites everywhere. Ron also had the lead (opposite a very young Frank Langella) in the Mel Brooks cult classic "The 12 Chairs," a performance enjoyed by semites everywhere. That evens it out.

Before this international acclaim, Moody was a variety favorite in his native England, where he made his revue debut in 1953. He appeared in various Myers & Cass (they issued one album in America) productions including "For Amusement Only." He had his own TV show, and with demand mounting, recorded the obscure "Move Along Sideways" album. Modern listeners will note its similarities to the solo work of Peter Sellers at that time. Sellers had a hit with a very strange album combining sketches and musical parody. Thanks to his vocal prowess, the at times subtle (if not downright weak) script didn't matter. Much.

Similarly, the producers of Ron Moody's album seemed to have relied on Ron's manic vocal dexterity more than a sharp script. Sellers was put in the hands of a first-rate music director, and Mr. Moody was given an ace, too, in Johnny Gregory, someone who could handle all song styles being parodied.

The album notes don't mention anything about where these songs came from, just a long, unfunny recollection on how the record label and Moody's people met at a bistro to discuss the project. "I like Avocado better than the whole meal." "A great fruit." "Must be ripe though." "Take it in the palms and if it yields slightly to pressure it's ready...How can they make a profit serving both halves of the Avocado to each customer?"

This album probably went out of print a week after it was issued, but it wouldn't be hard to find by checking the usual on-line dealers or local used record stores. They'd be happy (if not astonished) to sell it, and wonder what kind of weird mood (and Moody) prompted it.

"When You Walk Upon a Stage," finds Ron wandering around a theater and in parody of those "no business but show business" songs Merman and Durante used to sing, starts doing impressions of Al Jolson and others.

The other sample is "Johnny Guitar." This requires more explanation than anyone, probably including Moody, could give. Succinctly, it's a manic send-up of a guy trying to learn the day's popular music (mostly folk) to impress someone (anyone). For some reason, everybody the guy meets speaks in the high voice Senor Wences used for his (literal) hand puppet Johnny...only with a Jewish accent.

Now you're on your own.
WHEN YOU WALK UPON A STAGE Instant download, no wait period, pop-ups or pestiness.
JOHNNY GUITAR RS download.

THE GIRL ON DEATH ROW - Lee Hazlewood

Duane Eddy's twangy guitar intro is deep and resonant...but Lee Hazlewood's voice is smoother and higher than you remember. This is an early performance from Lee, well before he met up with Nancy Sinatra.
Duane and Lee met up when they were in high school, and Lee produced Duane's early singles in 1958 on the Jamie Label (which, no conflict of Payola, was partially owned by Dick Clark). "Moovin' 'n' Groovin'" was played on Dick's "American Bandstand" show and sold 100,000 copies. Eddy's fab "Rebel Rouser" followed...the irony here being that the howlin' rednecks you hear overdubbed onto the song, are actually black guys. They were The Sharps, who eventually earned novlty fame as The Rivingtons.
Released in 1960, "The Girl On Death Row" was used (very briefly) on the end credits to Terry Moore's depressing 1960 "Why Must I Die" film, which was in turn inspired by the 1958 Susan Hayward opus "I Want To Live." The tune lopes along at a country-rock pace as Lee sketches in the story:
"They take her life tomorrow. Is she guilty? She says no. The girl on death row. Now someone holds her trembling hand. Another says, "Please understand." Why can't they see it in her face? Another should be in her place..."
And the reason for posting it? Oh, just killing time.
THE GIRL ON DEATH ROW

SAMMY WALKER: Ochs Protege, Dylan Soundalike

Returning to the Illfolks reason for blogging in the first place - giving some attention to unusual folkies - we pay tribute to Sammy Walker. When Phil Ochs heard Sammy perform on Bob Fass's WBAI late night radio show, he instantly vowed to produce a record for him. That Walker was a "Dylan sound-alike" had all kinds of implications.

Following the Ochs-produced "Song For Patty" (with Hearst on the cover), Sammy was able to move from Broadside to Warners for a two-disc deal. By the second, Sammy was singing a farewell to the late Phil Ochs (on the song "Legends')...and his own major label career was at an end. He has surfaced now and then for indie releases.

Your sample comes from "Sammy Walker" his first Warners album, and his best release. The Illfolks choice is naturally the morbid "My Old Friend." The rest of the album isn't quite so emotionally rending (stand-outs being "Catcher in the Rye" and "Decoration on the Wall.")

The song is either about one woman who went through three horrid stages of life, or a trilogy; a look at three people in hellish misery:

"The rain was cold in Cedartown, the street lights hurt my eyes. The shoes were wore out on my feet, the air was stiff with lies. Not a thousand lords or prophets know the pain that's filled my head, a message come from Utah sayin' my long lost son was dead..."
The second story opens this way: "My husband left me years ago, the children they're all grown, and scars from the fire won't ever leave me alone...."
The third misery: "When I had to fight I fought, and when I had to die I died. And when I had to live without my legs oh heaven knows I tried. But what's the use, who really cares? Please tell me who's to blame. We always seem so different even though we're all the same."

The song seems be about three different people, since one person couldn't absorb so much pain, and in the first verse the singer has shoes, but in the last verse has no legs at all. Otherwise, it's one pretty star-crossed woman singing about three different stages of her life.

Each refrain is the same "...so I turn to you, old friend...with your dark and valiant magic, all the heartaches that you mend."

Just what that "dark and valiant magic" might be, who knows. Are we talkin' about a real friend? Jesus? Or is Death the old friend, come to take away the pain? Could each stanza's misery refer to a different "friend" who got the person through? No wonder Sammy was considered another Dylan...his lyrics here are slightly elusive and ambiguous.

People often ask, "Imagine what Sammy's friend and mentor Phil Ochs would be singing about if he were alive today..." Maybe the melting ice caps and the world foolishly looking to God for help rather than helping themselves. That's Sammy Walker's subject matter on "If Jesus Don't Show," on "Misfit Scarecrow," an album released last year...a rare re-emergence for this enigmatic artist.

The track sounds like a demo, with the piano a little more prominent than the vocal, but indie artists can not afford a lot of studio time or back-up musicians. If this song was more lushly arranged and better produced, and sung by Springsteen or Mellencamp, "If Jesus Don't Show" would be known around the world. Instead, here it is, on the Illfolks blog.

Remarkably, all of Mr. Walker's music is still in print, either on CD or via download on such sites as lala.com. Artists do not get to record if nobody supports them, and they aren't as likely to write new songs without encouragement. That probably explains the gaps between Walker's releases.

The comparison of Sammy Walker to Dylan can be heard in both tracks. Like Bob, Sammy started out spry and passionate, and is now often gruff and prone to dark meditation.
MY OLD FRIEND
IF JESUS DON'T SHOW
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KENNY RANKIN (1940-2009) Here's That Rainy Day

Kenny Rankin swooped the planet two days ago, June 7, 2009. He was 69. He had been diagnosed with lung cancer three weeks ago. Far from retired, he had a concert scheduled for September 20, 2009 in Norfolk, CT at a venue called Infinity Hall.
As an artist, Rankin was adept at appealing to all types of music fans. He was George Carlin's opening act for years, and Johnny Carson wrote the liner notes for Kenny's 1967 debut album "Mind Dusters." Rankin covered folk, jazz and smooth rock in the early 70's and just as easily put out an album of standards ("The Kenny Rankin Album") in 1976 with Don Costa conducting a full orchestra. He was not only a talented singer and guitarist, he wrote some classic songs. "In the Name of Love" was covered by Peggy Lee and "Haven't We Met" was memorably recorded by Carmen McRae.
Kenny also covered songs so well that he earned praise from the original composers. On his fifth album, "Silver Morning" (1975) he offered an elegant jazz-folk rendition of "Blackbird." It was so memorable that a dozen years later, Paul McCartney asked him to perform it as part of a medley at a Songwriters Hall Of Fame ceremony honoring the works of Lennon-McCartney.
"Blackbird" is a song open to many interpretations. A favorite, is the concept of resurrection and rebirth...sunken eyes once again able to see, and broken wings once again able to fly. It is quite a fitting song, in contemplating a good man and the rewards of an afterlife.
And so is "Here's That Rainy Day," which was, oddly enough, a favorite of melancholy comedian Spike Milligan and talk show host Johnny Carson. The lyric speaks in a way of that day of reckoning...when the sunshine is just a memory.
Rankin's inspiration for a musical career did, after all, have its roots in a religious moment. He recalled, ""I was in the fourth grade and sang 'O Holy Night' in a Christmas play. My teacher, Miss Isabel Pringle, came over to me and patted me on the head and said 'Kenneth, that was lovely.' She set me on the path in music..."

KENNY RANKIN - Here's That Rainy Day
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PROCOL HARUM IN HELL

September 14, 2001 concert at the Hell Blues Festival, Norway.

Only one guy remains from the original 1967 band. Singer/pianist Gary Brooker and organist Matthew Fisher split over legal dispute concerning Fisher's uncredited contribution of the famous organ solo that opens "Whiter Shade of Pale." As of this writing, Matthew's won a victory - his name is now officially on the credits. But Brooker's also won a victory - he doesn't have to split past royalties. The latter part is on appeal, with Fisher asking for royalties going back at least since the case was brought to trial, and also asking that court costs be paid by Brooker.

Without Fisher, and with an increasingly older lead singer not always in the best of voice, Procol's found fewer and fewer gigs over the years, mostly doing a few summer nights in the dark countries...Denmark, Norway or Germany. Below is a vintage concert from Norway back when it was just a pit-stop on a longer tour of Europe, and Fisher was still across the stage on his Hammond.

Procol's muscular rock music was in contrast to the ill lyrics of Keith Reid, whose Dylan-influenced words self-admittedly "wallowed in a morass" that darkly verged on pretentiousness. Their few chart hits involved a woman turning from ghostly to a "A Whiter shade of Pale" (dead) and the grim philosophizing over the corpse of a "Conquistador." Focused on destruction, torment and painful self-consciousness with mere glimpses toward nirvana, Procol's hardest rocking songs bubble in a cauldron of bile ("Piggy Pig Pig" and "Bringing Home the Bacon") and are steaming with wretched excess ("Whiskey Train") or angry angst ("Typewriter Torment"). Their prettiest songs tend to be eerie ("Salty Dog"), decadent ("Grand Hotel") or filled with semi-disguised put-downs ("Homburg"). There's not a song in this set that does not have an undercurrent of pessimism, anger or despair.

Any band critically praised for a blend of classical music, eclectic lyrics and R&B blues is bound to suffer, especially one with an intellectual name (Latin for "Beyond these Things") so Procol Harum remains beyond fame, often written off as a one-hit (or two-hit, counting "Conquistador") wonder. Concert Note: This is one of those times when The Commodore chooses to sing the "extra verse" omitted from the original "A Whiter Shade of Pale." Morbid Note: the band pronounces its last name "Horrum," closer to horror than a harem.

Procol Harum Live Concert? Go to...
OH, it's HELL, Folks!

SNOOPY & THE RED BARON - IN ITALIAN

Two reasons to be amused by "Snoopy vs the Red Baron" sung in Italian. First, that it's sung in Italian. Second, that Giorgio Gaber tosses in a fragment of "Hang On Sloopy," (which so many thought was "Hang On Snoopy" when it first crackled through bad transistor radios years ago).

Gaber (January 25, 1939-January 1, 2003) was a frolicsome fellow who gained some fame back in 1958 with a novelty tune that translates as "Don't Hog the Telephone."

He went on to appear at the San Remo Festival several times with straight songs, before returning to the novelty genre with what is technically titled, "Snoopy Contro Il Barone Rosso." A few years later he had his biggest success in Italy in 1969 with another serious tune, "How Beautiful the City Is."

The "Bloody Red Baron" Manfred Richtofen earned his nickname by downing at least three dozen planes. In 1916 he shot down his British rival Major Lanoe Hawker, and the following year was awarded "The Blue Max" for his deadly accuracy. In April of 1917, he went on a rampage, and in less than 30 days was credited with knocking 22 airmen out of the skies.

One Brit, Captain Donald Cunnell, nearly killed The Red Baron, but Richthofen managed to land his plane despite a severe head wound that grounded him for a while, leaving him battling severe headaches and nausea. During his recuperation he published his autobiography, which naturally made himself out to be even greater than he was.

He piloted an awesome Fokker (no cheap jokes, please) but, true to Snoopy's fantasies, was downed by an ace flying the unlikely-named Sopwith Camel. Almost exactly a year after his bloody success in April of 1917, The Red Baron met his end. On the morning of April 21, 1918, he was chasing down a Canadian pilot, Lieutenant "Wop" May when another plane, piloted by another Canadian, Captain Arthur Brown, came to the rescue. Richthofen was shot in the chest, but managed to safely land his plane...in enemy territory. Most reports said he died only minutes after landing. One soldier at the scene claimed The Red Baron gasped out one last word: "Kaput!"

In 1966, "Snoopy vs The Red Baron" became a Top Ten novelty single, focusing on the heroic beagle's imagined Sopwith Camel victory over that German Fokker. The single was such a hit, an entire album was quickly thrown together, and it too reached the Top Ten in January of 1967. Giorgio Gaber's Italian version arrived soon after, adding a bit of "Hang On Sloopy" (if you're keeping score, that tune by The McCoys was a Top 10 in 1965).
SNOOPY VS THE RED BARON, IN ITALIAN. Instant listen on line, or via download. No waiting time. No pop-ups.

Big Band Medley: Beatles, Searchers & Clark

Swing it! Squalkin' trumpets, bouncin' 'bones, twangy guitar, chuggin' drums...it's time for three Big Band treatments of Liverpool and Mersey faves!
Your RS download gets you all three tracks:
"Can't Buy Me Love...Needles and Pins...Glad All Over."
Back in the mid-60's, one of the comical ways in which the "British Invasion" music was accepted, was via a mainstream cover version. Like: "Really, this mop-top music isn't bad, it has some nice melodies, if only that bad singing didn't get in the way."
Not far from the rack containing Keely Smith's album of Lennon-McCartney covers (a sample is on this blog), was Buddy Morrow's "Beatlemania: The Big Hits of 1964." Which included covers of The Dave Clark Five and others.
Buddy Morrow now 90 [update...he's died since this posting], was a trombone player and band leader who had a powerful interest in the more splashy side of jazz. One of his notable instrumental hits was a version of "Night Train," and one of his best albums was "Impact," his bold collection of TV Themes, including a fierce take on "M Squad," the Count Basie classic. Along with Al Caiola, Doc Severinsen and others, Morrow's exciting work has managed to survive a period of neglect to be respected once again for cool charts performed with hot chops. There's some rockin' stuff buried in the "Big Band" part of the local record store.
Which isn't to say that Big Band is the perfect setting for "Beatlemania" songs...but you'll still have some fun with these. Pretty cool guy, Buddy Morrow...or as he was known in the old neighborhood...Moe Zudekoff
Here's a medley of "Glad All Over" and "I Saw Her Standing There."
Update: Nov, 2011. Rapidshare's annoying "30 days without a download kills it" policy killed the original links. They are back via a better company.
BIG BAND BEATLEMANIA
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JIM CROCE - The Ballad of Gunga Din

Rudyard Kipling has been banished to the tomb of the Politically Incorrect. After all, how many people are named "Rudyard" anymore?
Kipling was the first Brit to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature, but that fact seems forgotten now.
The modern British, overrun by immigrants willing to blow themselves up for Allah, know that "the white man's burden" is among them, but they dare not say it out loud. It's as if they're guilty over bring civilization to heathen areas of the Far East and Africa, and must make amends by destroying their own culture, and watch churches convert to mosques and tourists disappear because the Fish & Chip shops are no longer run by authentic Brits.
Kipling is perceived as just an embarrassing example of white people not leaving the coloreds alone. Although minorities are generally the first to start shouting that they need aid from a richer, more industrial country. Or else.
Rudyard wrote very English (usually filled with dialect) poems about common soldiers. "Tommy Atkins" is one of the best. The soldiers were also portrayed as human, and lusty ("On the Road to Mandalay" is the place to be for interracial sex). He praised the guts and skills of the opposing soldiers ("Fuzzy Wuzzy") and in 1892 used racism in "Gunga Din" the same way Charles Dickens used misanthropy in "A Chrismtas Carol," which was to set the stage for humility: "...'you're a better man than I am, Gunga Din."
All we hear now is "how dare Kipling write about other races...what a racist!" But wasn't he, in some ways, the Randy Newman of his day? Randy Newman is a smug white guy who knows he's a lot smarter than the common ethnics. Yet critics fall over themselves praising him for lyrics that often simply tell a story without judgment. "Louisiana 1927" calls poor crackers "poor crackers," "Half a Man" is about a man disgusted by his own homosexuality, and "Rednecks" doesn't exactly say anything bad about the racist Lester Maddox. "Gunga Din" written in 1892 is in many ways quite similar to a Randy Newman lyric, where the narrator is real, human, and flawed.
As for the 1939 film, this classic is almost never shown, perhaps because it was played in brown-face by a Jewish actor named Sam Jaffe. Forget that he was courageous, and "a better man" than the whites (which was the point of the story), or that the character is not any worse a stereotype than what you've been enjoying on hip late night talk shows: Jimmy Kimmel's ugly dumb Guillermo, Letterman's excitable Mujibur and Sirajul, or Leno's effeminate Ross the Intern.
The 1939 movie is especially timely in 2009, since the plot involves a religious death cult. "Kill for the love of KILLING," was the cry (from Eduardo Cianelli, an Italian in brown-face.) It seems no TV station would want to enrage any of the lethal suicide bombers from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Afghanistan, who kill for the love of KILLING, and kill because their religious leaders tell them so.
In the 70's, at the same time John Lennon was offering "Woman is the Nigger of the World," Jim Croce decided to champion the noble "heathen" named "Gunga Din," and put that poem to music. Unable to perform in British dialect, Jim's version is slightly wan, but at least he made the attempt. It's also rather softly sung (no din in this Gunga). If Jim Croce, a minority group member himself, didn't find "Gunga Din" offensive, maybe it's time to go back and appreciate some Kipling. (It beats Twittering.)
"Gunga Din" is one of the great story poems of all time, and Kipling wrote some great things. Not too many would agree, and...that's why you're reading this at the Illfolks blog!
GUNGA DIN via RS

ALAN BOWN not Andy Bown or Andy Brown

The Illfolks coverage of ANDY Bown drew over one thousand fans of ALAN Bown asking, "What about a plug for our beloved and equally obscure ALAN?"
Would you believe one hundred?
How about one comment from some guy named Milligan complaining, "Wasn't Andy a well known typing error, and didn't you mean Alan, you swine?"
To make up for any disappointment, real or imagined, here's another dollar bin denizen who never quite got the attention he deserved.
In the USA, whether it was Andy Bown or Alan Bown, nobody was exactly bown away with the music, and radio stations weren't exactly bown' in the wind.
Alan was a trumpet player who first blew people away as a member of the John Barry Seven (yes, the guy who wrote all the James Bond themes). After that group broke up in 1964, Alan's jazz leanings led him to name his own outfit The Alan Bown Set, and as a touring band got a deal to co-release a live album with Jimmy James. Each got one side. The band scattered a half-dozen singles before breaking up.
In 1967 Alan went with the more commercial "psych" and Cream-blooze sound of the day, and the name was shortened to the hipper The Alan Bown! (that's what was happenin' baby!). Sadly, all kinds of problems beset the band, from line-up changes (let's confuse matters and have a lead vocalist named Andy Brown) to indifferent record labels, to bizarre twists of fate (like a strike at the record factory just when he was getting hot via "Top of the Pops" broadcasts).
And so by 1972, Alan decided to shift behind the scenes in the music biz, and leave the spotlight and the headaches to someone else...Like, maybe, Andy Bown, who was gaining attention with solo work, at least before he too decided to seek safety in numbers, and become a member of the Status Quo.
Three phases of Alan Bown via the early album of live tracks and singles, and two albums from the Psych era:

Early Alan Bown: Emergency 666 singles & LIVE

LISTEN

Alan Bown '69

THE PRISONER - Number Six Mix

"The Prisoner" is being updated, sans Patrick McGoohan and Portmeirion. Chances are that when this new version appears, it will stink like a skunk and sink like a stone. (Remember those movie versions of "Honeymooners," "Bewitched," "Flintstones" and "The Avengers?")
As for "modernizing" the actual Prisoner theme song...that was done in 1997. "Number Six Mix" takes fragments of the original Ron Grainer theme song, and adds an entirely fresh melody as sung by Margeaux Lampley:
"Each day they try anew to make him understand/ A certain situation;
You're a number not a man.
He's nuked the civil service, given notice that he's through/ So they take him to that Village. Gonna give him what he's due.
Number Two wants information,wants to know who's side he's on/ But he never yields to passion, never gives them what they want.
He's Number Six. Not a number but a free man with a spirit of his own. Number Six!"
This jazz-dance concoction inspired by "The Prisoner" series isn't Dr. Dre or Dr. No (that would be Dre-no), so it exists on its own as a valid if not necessary musical curio.
Your opinion is your own. And no, you will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, de-briefed or otherwise pestered into leaving a comment.
Just download...Bang Bang's "Number Six Mix" which appeared on "Serialement Votre" in 1997.
THE PRISONER NUMBER SIX MIX

JACK LAWRENCE from LINDA to BEYOND THE SEA

Best known as a lyricist, Jack Lawrence put words into the mouths of Billie Holiday, Fats Waller, Ella Fitzerald and hundreds more. Even Buddy Hackett.
While most active in the 40's and 50's with big band tunes and swingin' classics, many of his songs are known to rock fans. Fats Domino and Bobby Darin had hits with his tunes, and most everyone knows "Linda." Jack couldn't decide which girl's name to use...until he saw a girl named Linda Eastman, daughter of a friend. Yes, guys were singing about her a decade before she married Paul McCartney.
Sometimes savvy Jack discovered a foreign melody that had hit potential. One French tune that was Americanized to the top of the charts: "Beyond the Sea." OK, still better as an instrumental is "Poor People of Paris," but the words were strong enough to interest Dean Martin.
One thing Jack didn't do was write sound effects. A police siren turns up at the end of Eydie Gorme's version of his "Yes My Darling Daughter." I sent him a copy, as he hadn't heard it. No, he couldn't figure out what they were trying to infer by using that siren, either. (Type the title into the search feature...you'll find a post on Gorme's version elsewhere on the blog). That one, "Linda" and "If I Didn't Care" are all examples of Jack writing both the lyrics and music.
Born Jack Lawrence Schwartz, he was originally planning on being a podiatrist, but the same year he graduated from The First Institute of Podiatry, 1932, he had bucks coming in for his first hit song, "Play, Fiddle, Play." Thanks to healthy royalties, he could avoid unhealthy feet and keep devoting his energy to more songs. One of his first hit "classics" came when a Walter Gross melody inspired him to add lyrics. The result was "Tenderly."
Jack rarely strayed from the pop song formula, but he did join Stan Freeman to write the music for Broadway's "I Had a Ball." It's represented here by "Addie's At It Again," the sexpot highlight for gorgeous Luba Lisa (she died in a plane crash a few years later) and by "Dr. Freud," a patter song for the show's star, Buddy Hackett.
You can read more about Jack at jacklawrencesongwriter.com (not jacklawrence.com; as is sometimes the case, often an asshole or a nobody with the same name takes the dot com address first). You can even buy CDs and books there.
Jack passed away a few weeks ago after a fall in his home. When you're 96, that type of thing can get the best of you. Whether the fall led to renal failure, or renal failure caused the fall...seems the coroner just listed both as causes for his demise. The New York Times' obit mentioned that "in 1979, Mr. Lawrence adopted his partner, Richard Debnam; he is Mr. Lawrence’s only survivor."
Below, some of his best-remembered songs:


1. YES, MY DARLING DAUGHTER Glenn Miller Orchestra with Marion Hutton
2. WITH THE WIND AND RAIN IN YOUR HAIR: Kay Kyser Orchestra and Ginny Sims
3. WHAT'S YOUR STORY, MORNING GLORY? Anita O'Day with Russ Garcia's Orchestra
4. LINDA Buddy Clarke with Ray Noble's Orchestra
5. WHAT WILL I TELL MY HEART? Fats Domino
6. ALL OR NOTHING AT ALL Old Blue Eyes with Harry James and his Orchestra
7. IF I DIDN'T CARE The Ink Spots
8. SUNRISE SERENADE Connee Boswell
9. BIG BOY BLUE Ella Fitzgerald / Mills Brothers
10. HOLD MY HAND Fats Waller
11. DO ME A FAVOR Fats Waller
12. ADDIE'S AT IT AGAIN Luba Lisa
13. DR. FREUD Buddy Hackett
14. POOR PEOPLE OF PARIS Dean Martin
15. BEYOND THE SEA Bobby Darin
16. THE OTHER HALF OF ME Bobby Darin
17. IT'S FUNNY TO EVERYONE BUT ME The Ink Spots
18. CIRIBIRIBIN Ray Eberle with Glenn Miller Orchestra
19. VAGABOND DREAMS Ella Fitzgerald
20. A HANDFUL OF STARS Nat King Cole Trio
21. SYMPHONY Freddy Martin
22. FOOLIN' MYSELF Teddy Wilson and his Orchestra with Billie Holiday
23. TENDERLY Patti Page
24. YES MY DARLING DAUGHTER Adelaide Hall

If you want more background on each song, you might find it on Jack's website. For more on "Linda," the song inspired by Linda McCartney:
http://www.jacklawrencesongwriter.com/songs/linda.html
And here's a fun look at the business end of songwriting, and how his "Yes My Darling Daughter" sat around, unwanted, and how a twist of fate (Dinah Shore singing a demo) turned the tune into a sudden hit...thanks to Jack standing up for himself and forcing his publisher to give him the song back:
http://www.jacklawrencesongwriter.com/songs/yes_my_darling_daughter.html
This double dozen collection...
TRIBUTE TO JACK LAWRENCE

Susannah McCorkle - Anti-Suicide Song from a Suicide

Your download, a cheery cheeky smooth calypso "I Don't Think I'll End It All Today." But...
On May 19, 2001, Susannah McCorkle jumped from 16C, the top floor of her Manhattan apartment.
Among the things that can keep an artist alive, is being wanted. Her record label, Concord Jazz, didn't want her anymore. The market for indie jazz was, and is, a tough one, and a few thousand sales can make the difference between renewal or release.
Even without digital sales, we're told artists can make a living off live performances.
McCorkle's biggest source of revenue for over 10 years was her season at the Algonquin Hotel, but they informed her that she wasn't welcome there anymore, as there were now many other hungry artists, a bit more famous or younger, or with new CDs to promote, to fill her spot.
These things happened shortly before her death. She had tried other means of staying in the music world, and her website mentioned how she conducted musical workshops for children, and that she was available for bookings at private parties. Does that sound glamorous to you? Or lucrative?
Susannah often talked about suicide, and in your download she even sings about it. Typical of "dark humor" in cabaret, "I Don't Think I'll End It All Today" describes "so many sweet things still on my list. So many sweet lips still to be kissed. So many sweet dreams still to unfold. So many sweet lies still to be told!"
And so, "Away with the river, away with the razor, away with the pearly gates, away with barbiturates, away with the Seconal, the fall from the building tall..."
The fall from the building tall.
The chronicle of Susannah McCorkle's life and the depression that she could not shake, even by recording a light-hearted anti-suicide song, can be found in "Haunted Heart," the biography written by Linda Dahl.
Let's back up and remember Susannah McCorkle ((January 4, 1946–May 19 2001) in her prime, when she had recordings to make, concerts to give, and was able to keep her demons at bay. Here's what Stephen Holden in the New York Times said in a review of her show, June of 1998:
"(Her) sweet, smoky voice and insinuating delivery suggest Billie Holiday filtered through Julie London by way of Lee Wiley," and in covering Gershwin and Jobim, she "finds a common strain of erotic longing in both songwriters...grounding her interpretations is a sexiness that veils everything in a light mist."
Her own take: "I was once called by People magazine a 'bruised romantic.' It's a great description of me."
Susannah had a tremendous love of music and composers, and in surfing the Internet, she favored sites that shared the love. If you go over to JohnnyMercer.com, you can still see her comment in the guest book:
Name:Susannah McCorkle
Email:smccoffice@aol.com
Date: Tuesday, March 23, 1999 at 22:36:43
Congratulations on a wonderful website! It's clear that this is a real labor of love, and I'm sure I speak for many people when I tell you how much it is appreciated. I wish every great songwriter could have someone as devoted as you designing and maintaining a website...Thank you for helping to keep these marvelous songs alive, and for helping those of us who perform them to have access to information and songs it might take weeks to find without your help. Verrrrrrrrrrrrrrry sincerely yours, Susannah McCorkle
The "office" you see in Susannah McCorkle's e-mail address (smccoffice) was also her home address, a common practice for any struggling musician. With travel and hotel costs eating away at the income from live shows, and flattened music sales, a surprising number of seemingly popular artists are struggling. The downside when the office is the home, is that people can call any time. Even more of a downside is when they don't.
Maybe she could've booked herself into one-night gigs, staying in crappy lonely hotels, negotiating every concert date, making sure the locations matched up so she wouldn't be zig-zagging across country. After a show, she could sit, alone and humiliated, at a table selling autographed CDs or t-shirts after each gig instead of resting or celebrating the show by visiting with backstage friends and then going out. Oh yes, and the woman would've had to look after her wardrobe and luggage and spend hours booking costly flights...jobs an agent or manager would only do for a chunk of the profits.
No, her next flight was 16 stories down. The woman's depression had become too exruciating, the rewards too few. The answer might've been "Get a day job, like the rest of us, and give up your dream of being a professional musician." She gave up entirely. She was 55.
SUSANNAH MCCORKLE

Theme from CHECKMATE (Johnny Williams)

John Williams has won 5 Academy Awards for his movie soundtracks. His film scores include "Jaws," "Star Wars," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "E.T. The Extra Terrestrial," Hitchcock's "Family Plot," "Towering Inferno," "Superman," "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan."
Back in the 60's when he was called "Johnny Williams," he was known for his TV themes. His trademark was throbbing brass, tense percussion and stop-start cadences, which worked especially well for sci-fi shows such as "Lost In Space," "Time Tunnel" and "Land of the Giants."
One of his first successes, in 1960, was the theme for "Checkmate," a crime melodrama starring the wooden Anthony George and his more colorful sidekicks cutie-pie Doug McClure and brainy Sebastian Cabot. This theme owes a bit to his friend Henry Mancini (they worked together on the arrangement for "Peter Gunn") with its prowling bass line.
This illfolks edition gives you the original thirty-second "Checkmate" theme as it was originally broadcast, followed by the obscure fleshed-out jazz version that appeared on the Grammy-nominated soundtrack album (he lost that year, to Henry Mancini). After only two seasons, it was checkmate for "Checkmate." But since in those days a TV series didn't re-run till the summer, those two seasons yielded an impressive total of 71 episodes.
CHECKMATE

The Flip Side for Ted Cassidy: WESLEY

Everybody knows "The Lurch," Ted Cassidy's dance single. It was hollowly growled in his Lurch voice from "The Addams Family." Though the single's now rare and expensive, the song has been anthologized, most recently on the "Hollywood Hi-Fi" CD, which includes obscurities from Jack Larson, Joe E. Ross, Dennis Weaver and Bette Davis.

The single arrived in 1965, produced and written by Gary Paxton, of "Monster Mash" fame. Taking a break from the ooky-spooky, the country flip side, "Wesley" (Scott Turner--Cliffie Stone) utilizes Cassidy's normal speaking voice, and is probably closer to his own preferences in music. After all, Cassidy (July 31, 1932 - January 16, 1979) grew up in West Virginia, and started college at West Virginia WESLEYan. He probably enjoyed C&W narration items when he worked as a disc jockey in Dallas (where he interviewed eye-witnesses to the JFK assassination). Probably his most famous film role was in a western; "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." At memorabilia shows, when fans brought that iconic photo of Butch Cassidy kicking Ted Cassidy...he'd autograph it directly at the crotch area!

"Wesley" offers Ted's narration with honky tonk piano and some back-up singers. I'd say "distracting" back-up singers, but Wesley reminded Ted and now reminds us: "If you can't say something good about someone, don't say nothin' at all."
WESLEY - TED CASSIDY

NICOLA PAONE - Hold Your Horses & Wait For Me

If you've spent any time in the forum and blog world, you've noticed the "sayings" or "slogans" that sum up a person's philosophy of life. Everybody has words to live by. Sometimes a blog's title is a piece of good advice like:

"Ride your pony."
Or
"Never Get Out of the Boat."

In a forum, you might find, at the end of every single post a person makes, his favorite motto, "Mmmmmm, more chocolate!" Or his favorite witticism: "When things smell fishy, it may not be fish necessarily, but simply an old twat"

Seriously. All the above are real. Just ask an old twat sitting on a pony in a boat covered in chocolate.

And so in that spirit of profundity, here's Nicola Paone's most earnest advice: "Hold Your Horses and Wait For Me."

Perhaps he got this from some Persian King who wanted the perfect phrase to say on any occasion. "All Things Must Pass?" Nah, that sounds like a laxative commercial. Stick with "Hold Your Horses and Wait For Me." The song has no other lyrics, just the pithy motto...and Paone on the piffero. Yes, the piffero, a home-made flute carved out of a sugar cane stalk.

The late great Nicola ran a (high priced) Italian restaurant all through his days of churning out ethnic tunes and novelty singles ("The Telephone Song" and "Blah Blah Blah" among them). In addition to the peculiar piffero, and Mr. Paone's words to live by, there's some scat singing that falls somewhere between Spike Milligan suffering from epilepsy after a spaghetti dinner, and Danny Kaye gone berserk on Cresta Blanca.
Hey Wild Bill, Wait for Me!

Theme from RACKET SQUAD - Buddy Morrow

The only match for Raymond Burr's baleful stare came from Reed Hadley. He rarely hit anyone, almost never fired a gun, but boy, could that guy glare.

Soft of voice, mild of manner, gaunt in physique, he got confessions thanks to an unnerving set of peepers.

Here, from memory (I'd go get the "Racket Squad" DVD and look it up?), is his stern lecture often delivered at the end of the show. As Captain Braddock, he declared:

"I'm closing this case now. Or, rather, the courts will. But there'll be others. Because that's the way the world is built. Remember, there are people who can slap you on the back with one hand, and pick your pocket with the other. And it Could happen to You."

The martial theme song is rendered vividly by Buddy Morrow and his Orchestra, as part of his late 50's Living Stereo album, "Impact," a collection of cop and crime TV themes.
RACKET SQUAD

CASS ELLIOT sings RANDY NEWMAN the lost LP

It's not over; the fat lady still sings. The former Ellen Cohen had about 10 years of musical successes in her short life, and more in the nearly 35 years since her death.

And here's her obscure debut on her new label RCA, which was widely ignored in 1972.

In 1963 she was the hefty part of the isoceles triangle that was Cass Elliot, Tim Rose and James Hendricks (her husband from (1963-68). As "The Big 3," they managed to issue two albums before morphing into "Cass Elliot and The Big 3," with the addition of Denny Doherty (among other changes in personnel). When this group broke up after one single, Cass herself went single, ready to take on the world. But Denny never forgot her, and after he formed a trio with John and Michelle Phillips, he invited her to join. The Mamas and The Papas were huge between 1965-1968. In 1968 the first Cass solo album arrived, "Dream A Little Dream Of Me."

She would go on to be a variety show favorite, larger than life opposite an Andy Williams or Ed Sullivan, and though her album sales weren't so great after '68, she was still a favorite on tour, and in 1974 she flew to the London Palladium for a two-week engagement. And that's where she died of a heart attack, not surprising considering her weight. No, there was no choking, no sandwich, no fatty foods anywhere near her. There was just plenty of fat inside her. The official verdict was: "heart failure due to fatty myocardial degeneration due to obesity".

It's not surprising her 1972 "Cass Elliot" album didn't go anywhere. Following two solo albums and a disc with Dave Mason, her RCA debut contained only one familiar recent cover tune to be rendered in her now-predictable pop-nostalgia mode: the overdone "Baby I'm Yours." The rest was fairly forgettable middle-of-the-road pop anybody could've done ("I'll Be There" could've been handed to Connie Francis, "Disney Girls" to Streisand, a string-laden "It's All in the Game" to Julie London). But speckled into the bland mix are two songs by Randy Newman ("I'll Be Home" and "I Think It's Going To Rain Today"), and cult figure Judee Sill's Joni-esque "Jesus Was a Crossmaker."

As a recording artist, Cass was not in a good position. This isn't a knock on her, it's that she was a victim of the times. Sweet pop (ala her defunct "Mamas and the Papas" or "Spanky and Our Gang" and "Harper's Bizarre") was dated, and after the novelty of seeing her croon "Dream a Little Dream of Me" on TV, folks now seemed to want love ballads from a more attractive source. Her lollipop fans couldn't possibly figure out those Randy Newman songs and may have even felt "Jesus was a Crossmaker" was some kind of blasphemy. Meanwhile hipsters aware her past solo albums were somewhat kitchy, couldn't buy stark or intelligent songs coming out of Mama Cass, so they didn't.

Her next album was prophetically titled "The Road Is No Place For A Lady."
MAMA CASS 1972
Update: Nov, 2011. Rapidshare's annoying "30 days without a download kills it" policy killed the original links. "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" is back via a better company.

RAIN TODAY
Download or listen on line. No capcha codes. No porn ads. No percentage going to the blogger for his "hard work." The hard work was done by the artist.

Cover Versions of Folk Songs + TRAVIS EDMONSON

A good song is worth repeating. Again, and again, and again. That's why the girl above is a little bit bugged. She downloaded the illfolks collection of "Boll Weevil" cover versions.
It's surprising how many different ways the same song can be sung. Sometimes it's stupendous. Colossal. Even mediocre.
Just listen to various versions of:
THE BOLL WEEVIL - 7 versions
TEN versions of LILY OF THE WEST
LA BAMBA from Valens, Belle Perez, Chipmunks, Las Lobos
DRILL YE TARRIERS DRILL, and PAT WORKS ON THE RAILWAY
Most links dating back to 2006 are still active. So check through at your leisure. You'll find all kinds of oddities, like a set of songs about Jack the Ripper, ripped for a download:
JACK THE RIPPER
Or even victims of the grim reaper...including a sampling of songs from some of the greats who died in 2008, including: Jimmy Carl Black (Lonesome Cowboy Burt), Jody Reynolds (Endless Sleep), Willoughby Goddard (I Shall Scream...from the original Broadway production of Oliver), Dennis Yost of Classics IV (Spooky, Traces), Rod Allen leader of The Fortunes (You've Got Your Troubles I've Got Mine), Eddy Arnold (Mommy Please Stay Home With Me), Jerry Wallace (You're Singing Our Love Song), Charlie Walker (Honky Tonk Woman, Wild as a Wildcat), Jerry Reed (Smell the Flowers, When You're Hot You're Hot), Davy Graham (Goin' Down Slow, Leavin' Blues), Henri Salvador (La Muralle de Chine), Erik Darling, leader of the Rooftop Singers (Walk Right In), John Stewart (Lost Her in the Sun), Robert Hazard (Blood on My Hands).
DEAD POP STARS OF 2008
And here, still active even in death, songs from artists and songwriters who passed on in 2007:
SONGS BY PEOPLE WHO DIED IN 2007, part one
SONGS BY PEOPLE WHO DIED IN 2007, part two
For more information on what's in these files, just use the search feature at the top of your screen and enter a few words, like BOLL WEEVIL or LA BAMBA...

Travis Edmonson (of BUD AND TRAVIS) died today, May 9th, at 76. Both the exciting stereo version of their "Ballad of the Alamo" and a mono demo version with slightly different vocals, are in this collection of
ALAMO SONGS . It will be easy to remember Travis Edmondson...his solo work, and his legacy with BUD AND TRAVIS will never be forgotten.

KING KONG cartoon cover theme 1966

In 1966, somebody had the bright idea of turning "King Kong" into a nice guy. Or as the theme song puts it, "a friend to man." Just to make it a little creepier, the immense gorilla, "ten times as big as a man," is totally devoted to a little boy. Forget about that scene from the 1933 classic in which Kong peels away Fay Wray's garments and sniffs at them. Now he's into a little boy. What's the kid looking up to? Bollocks!

If you think it couldn't get worse, listen to the theme song, which dutifully covers the show's warped premise. This isn't the original soundtrack version of "King Kong" but a cover by Wade Denning and his Port Washingtons (guys who dress up like George Washington and get bombed on port).

Their version might be better than the cartoon soundtrack. Here, instead of a friendly chorus of moms and dads, tepid percussion and a bit of a flurry from a French horn (trying to be an elephant) we've got a suspiciously enthusiastic bunch of men, a bit of "George of the Jungle" kettle drum, a J. Arthur Rank gong, and the periodic blast of Herb Alpert-styled trumpets working in counterpoint against the trombones. Bones, not boners. Only somebody truly perverse would watch the cartoons again on DVD, with a little boy and his gorilla (one who incidentally has pretty big knockers).
PS, it should be noted that not only is it a bad idea for your boy to have a gorilla for a pet, it is not wise for you, or anyone else, to even have a pet chimp. But you can Google "Charla Nash" for yourself. We'll keep it nostalgic and ridiculous in offering you...
THE KING KONG THEME SONG COVER VERSION

Sandy Becker Theme Song: Afrikaan Beat

Someone asked if it was possible to post the theme song for "The Sandy Becker Show." Pretty easy to do: the kiddie show host used "Afrikaan Beat," and he sometimes promoted it on his show, since it was available as a single, for almost the price a kid might pay for a Duncan Yo-Yo or a Spalding pink rubber ball (yeah, ok, a "Spaldeen" everybody called it).

Becker was a different kind of kiddie host. He was a nice looking guy (a former soap opera actor) and he didn't "talk down" to his audience. He wasn't in costume at all times, like Buffalo Bob or Captain Kangaroo, he fit in somewhere between Dick Van Dyke and John F. Kennedy.

In the course of showing cartoons, exhibiting art work sent in by viewers, or doing a bit of arts and crafts, he sometimes turned up as a "character," the jovial Latino named K. Lastima (translation: What a Pity), the nerdish, Stan Laurel-esque Norton Nork, the bright-eyed and insane Hambone, or the stoic Big Professor. He also had some puppets around, including a strange old geezer named Geeba-Geeba. Mostly, he was beloved for being himself, a father figure for all the kids whose own Dads were away at work. He hosted a daily show for years, and his "Wonderama" program was literally on the air all of Sunday morning, breakfast to lunch! Sonny Fox, another "normal" kiddie host, later took it over.

No surprise that Becker's theme song is not at all zany or childlike. It reflects a different time and a different pace. Instrumental pop tunes are as rare now as intelligent and dignified hosts of kiddie shows. Here's Bert Kaempfert (the guy who brought The Beatles in to back Tony Sheridan on a German recording session, who wrote the music for Frank's "Strangers in the Night" and Al Martino's "Spanish Eyes" and Wayne Newton's "Danke Schoen" (aka Donkey Shit) providing the upbeat music that made kids sit up and smile, knowing Sandy Becker was about to arrive.

Sandy Becker Theme Song: AFRIKAAN BEAT