LIAM, LAST OF THE CLANCY BROTHERS

Liam Clancy (aka William Clancy) died on December 4th, the last member of the group that included his brothers Patrick and Tom, as well as friend Tommy Makem.

It's possible The Clancy Brothers' act could've been even bigger, considering that Liam was the youngest of eleven children!

Back in 1956, the young broth of a boy came to America where brothers Paddy and Tommy were trying to get work in the New York theater. Acting jobs were few, but there was a big market in the coffee houses and pubs for singers. The Clancy Brothers began singing and recording albums, starting fittingly enough with "Irish Songs of Rebellion." They were a hit on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1961, and when the folk-rock scene was in swing, the veteran act was polished and poised to join in, and they did. They were on Vanguard, the same label as Joan Baez. One of the new guys singing songs of rebellion, Joan's boyfriend Bob Dylan, admired the band, and said there wasn't "anybody who's a better ballad singer than Liam."

From Carnegie Hall in New York to Albert Hall in London, and all over the world, The Clancy Brothers played to standing room only. In 1973 Liam left his brothers to work as a solo artist, but returned in 1984. The group was stable for a while, but Liam walked out yet again, this time in a feud with his brother Pat. When Tom died in 1990, The Clancy Brothers seemed doomed, but Liam re-joined Pat and Tommy Makem and there were more concerts and recordings, with Robbie O'Connell adding to the line-up.

At the "Bobfest," that star-studded concert honoring Dylan's 30th Anniversary, they performed "When the Ship Comes In."

The Clancy Brothers act was in retirement by the time Pat Clancy died in 1998. Tommy Makem passed on in 2007. Typical of the rousing enthusiasm and vibrant harmony that the group specialized in, your download is the Irish classic, "Brennan on the Moor," which has nothing to do with Walter or Mary Tyler...

BRENNAN ON THE MOOR

ERIC WOOLFSON DIES; "Eye in the Sky"

"The Alan Parsons Project," with most songs written by Eric Woolfson and Alan Parsons, relied mainly on "guest vocalists," but despite having a bland, if not weak voice, it was Eric himself who ended up with their greatest hit. "Eye in the Sky" seemed like a throw-away track at the time, not something that would entice a top singer.

Parsons recalled, "I hated the song when we first started recording it — I was quite ready to drop it altogether." He was a little more optimistic after "we hit upon the hypnotic guitar chugs."

A rarity (Jewish Scotsman) Woolfson (March 18, 1945 – December 2, 2009) began his career as a songwriter. His early attempt in front of a microhone, a single in 1971 under the name Eric Elder, went nowhere. He expanded to record producing, gifting us with the immortal Carl "Kung Fu Fighting" Douglas.

As the name would suggest, though Eric and Alan co-wrote the songs, "The Alan Parsons Project" focused attention on only one man. Parsons was generally the lone face in 8x10 glossies given out by the record label. Their first effort, a Poe concept album, "Tales of Mystery and Imagination," has a big photo of Parsons in the gatefold. Woolfson gets a much smaller photo.

Parsons, after all, was the engineering wizard behind "Dark Side of the Moon," and Eric was just an unknown songwriter.

Critics were not impressed with the glossy, easy-listening style of The Alan Parsons Project. Checking my files, I find Ed Naha speaking for the majority via an issue of Circus in August of 1976. The no-no from Naha begins:

"If Edgar Allen (sic) Poe were still alive, he would probably seek out Alan Parsons and brick him up behind a rather hefty concrete wall. The Parsons Projejct LP really hits Mr. Poe with a low blow, transforming many of his terrifying poems and stories into aimless tunes that Mike Quatro wouldn't be caught listening to after a Jesus Christ Superstar concert..." After this, the review gets nasty.

Despite critical nausea, The Alan Parsons Project flourished for over ten years, producing a lot of safe, catchy pop tunes in the tradition of E.L.O. if not "Jesus Christ Superstar." Ultimately hoping to compete with Andrew Lloyd-Weber himself, Woolfson found a new partner, Brian Brolly, and began writing musicals for the stage.

Their musical "Freudiana" didn't make it to London's West End, or Broadway, but it was a hit in Germany, where a follow-up musical about Antonio Gaudi was also a big success. Eric even tried to revisit Poe with a new musical, but it failed to get on the boards. An album of songs from the show exists, called "More Tales of Mystery and Imagination," and you can find information on it at www.poe-cd.com/home.html

Eric's last musical was "Dancing Shadows" in 2007. Below, his most famous song, co-written and sung by Eric, and the obvious inspiration for the photo top right. As two eyes in the sky, Eric may be reading along with you on this blog -- heaven must have free wi-fi.
EYE IN THE SKY

NO JOY - Michele Legrand's GENEVIEVE was 90

You've heard of Michel Legrand...well, somebody had to tutor him on the finer points of the piano, and that was Genevieve Joy (and also Nadia Boulanger...he studied at the Paris Conservatoire for nine years!)

That's about as close to the world of "popular" music as she got, which is why her death was not well covered. Genevieve (October 4, 1919-November 27, 2009) died in her sleep in a Paris hospital.

In the classical world, she's known for her partnerships with pianist Jacqueline Robin and composer-husband Henri Dutilleux. She was such an influence on Henri, that he composed a piano sonata during the first years of their marriage (1946-1948) and he considered it Opus #1, deciding that anything he wrote earlier was not worthy.

Oddly enough, he didn't exactly follow it up with a lot of other piano pieces for her to perform. This was fine with him: ""She never reproached me for not writing more for the piano, and never tried to influence me on that score."

Others, including Darius Milhaud and Andre Jolivet, composed music for Genevieve Joy and her musical partner Jacqueline Robin. Over many decades, they entertained audiences with dual-piano concerts. Genevieve also recorded solo work for the Erato label, and had her regular teaching work at the Paris Conservatoire. Michel Legrand was by far her most famous student, creating Oscar-winning soundtracks to dozens of films and writing "Windmills of Your Mind" among many other hits.

As you might expect from a 20th Century classical composition, Dutilleux's piano sonata is not purely romantic, even if the inspiration was his wife. The piece explores the delights, both intellectual, physical and spiritual, of the union. In other words, on listening to this you might get the idea that Genevieve was a pretty complicated chick. She recorded the piece, so she must've agreed. Husband Henri, 88, survives her.
Go ahead, download some 20th Century classical piano from Genevieve and Henri. Challenging music didn't begin and end with Zappa.

AMANDA LEERS AT MASH, Willie Nelson, "Wild Thing"

Here's eleven familiar songs rendered a bit strange by the beguiling Amanda Lear.

One of the most colorful people I've spent an hour with, Amanda Lear was seriously tongue-in-cheek, mock-flirty, and a racy raconteur having wicked fun with the whole game of celebrity.

Like her mentor Salvador Dali, she knew the value of glib ad-libs, outrageous remarks, and controversial opinions. Just as Dali's vivid paintings were commercial but intellectual, Amanda's disco music pandered to the least discriminating taste but often had intelligent lyrics. Her non-dance tracks were influenced by both the decadent Marlene Dietrich and such provocative provocateurs of contemporary perv-pop as Lou Reed, Bryan Ferry and David Bowie. On her very first album, title track "I am a Photograph" poetically referenced her work as a model (notably the album cover for Ferry's Roxy Music album "For Your Pleasure.")

A logical addition to the illfolks blog, Amanda was not appreciated by rock critics when she began recording, while Bowie's disco dance stuff was breathlessly reviewed as well as anything from Ferry or Reed. All three guys could get away with gender games, too. They were still men. Amanda, with transsexual rumors swirling, had renounced manhood completely, which was a little too frightening. We think of rock writers as liberated, edgy and glad to go beyond boundaries, but at the end of the day they went from the office to the bar for a beer like everyone else.

Amanda's voice was really no more peculiar than Neil Young's. Johnny Cash sometimes sounded a bit off key. Tom Waits was the Cookie Monster. But Amanda's vocals still aren't taken seriously. Listen to the cover versions collected, and you'll hear how valid most of them are...either as simple diversions or as intellectual statements.

Before meeting her (pre-Internet era) I'd heard the rumors of Amanda being transsexual, but there wasn't concrete photographic evidence available. Recently, vintage pix have surfaced including the one below, showing the still boyish Amanda gravitating to glamorous French sex-change chanteuse Coccinelle. As Peki D'Oslo, Amanda first began performing gender-bender song and dance in Paris nightclubs where the entertainers were all boys-as-girls.



I wondered how convincingly female or how stark and obviously male she'd be in person. That became as pointless as a critique about whether she is or isn't a good singer. She was a great personality and the hour went by very quickly. I suppose that given yesterday's (November 28th) news about the suicide of Mike Penner (the sports columnist in L.A. who tried to become "Christine Daniels") it's worth mentioning that Amanda has survived and flourished with her aura of mystery and gender "confusion," while others, only confused, have perished.

What was important, and is important, is the art itself, and if the entertainer entertains. Amanda always has (although I avoid all the hardcore disco numbers, which do delight fans of that genre).

Bryan Ferry was quite amusing with his cover versions, whether it was his tremblingly zomboid "Times They are a Changing" or the deliberately effeminate "It's My Party." Amanda gets an easy laugh with "The Love Boat Theme," and gives a predictably punk-disco knee in the groin to "Wild Thing." She's more than campy on "These Boots Are Made for Walking." But she does a credible, if dark take on "The Look of Love," a strangely good "You Were Always On My Mind" (Willie Nelson's hit), and goes "straight" on the Charles Aznavour and Roy Clark (and dozens more) ballad "Yesterday When I was Young," free of the drag queen melodrama one might expect. Draw your own conclusions on "Fever" or the M*A*S*H theme song "Suicide is Painless."

Amanda's been at it 30 years now, and her brand new CD even covers Amy Winehouse. Yes, a line like "kept his dick wet" (from "Back to Black") suits Amanda very, very well. Have "serious" rock critics reviewed it as they would Bowie or Ferry? Of course not. The new one is well produced, with plenty of excellent tracks that don't rely on disco beats. She's survived for so long by doing what Bowie, Reed and Ferry have done...relying on a strong personality and varying the material just enough to avoid committing the worst sin of all...being boring.

11 AMANDA LEAR COVER VERSIONS OF HIT SONGS

A LITTLE MORE SOUP, PLEASE - Soupy Sales

As requested, here's a second helping of Soupy...this time, both sides of an obscure single that wasn't on any of his ABC-Paramount or Reprise albums. A bit on the kiddie side, but fun for all ages, below you'll find download links for "Use Your Noggin" and "The Backwards Alphabet."

Soupy's last album, "Still Soupy After All These Years" (1981) is the one that captures his stand-up act. Yes, he tosses in some lines from his old show ("You show me a sculptor who works in the basement and I'll show you a low-down chiseler") but there's some material he certainly couldn't have told the kiddies in the 60's, silly though it might be.

Like the one about the woman who goes to see a druggist. She wants some hair remover to put on some ingrown hairs on her poor doggy:

"The druggest says, "If you're using it under your arms, take my advice, don't use any deodorant for two days. It could irritate your arms." She says, "it's not for my arms." So he says, "if you're gonna use it on your legs, don't wear stockings for three days, it could irritate your legs." And she says, "I want to put it on my Schnauzer." And the druggist says, "in that case, don't ride a bicycle for a week!"

USE YOUR NOGGIN
THE BACKWARDS ALPHABET

Download the above Soupy songs or listen to them on line. No captcha codes, porn ads, pop-ups or wait time.

TELL LAURA I LOVE HER 18x + 2 Answer Songs

There were two big "Teen Tragedy" car wreck songs in 1960. First, "Teen Angel," hitting #1 in January. Second, "Tell Laura I Love Her," which reached #7 in June.

"Teen Angel" sung by Mark Dinning is an ode to his high school sweetie. Their car stalls on a railroad track, he pulls her to safety, but she runs back and gets crushed to angel dust. Turns out she'd gone to retrieve the ring he gave her, which must've been dropped amid the Kleenexes and Trojans in the back seat.

"Tell Laura I Love Her," wailed by Ray Peterson, tells of his pal Tommy, who was too young to enter a stock car race, but did it anyway to earn enough prize money to wed his beloved Laura. Crushed and burned when his car speeds out of control, he painfully screams his last words: "TELL LAURA I LOVE HER...Tell Laura not to cry. My love for her will never die."

Huge hits, both. Melodramatic, sentimental and ridiculous, both. But...
Only one of them has spawned dozens of cover versions.

The likely reason is that "Tell Laura I Love Her" gives a singer a chance to emote; starting out as the observer, ending up voicing the anguish of the main character. "Teen Angel" is just a traditional (written by Dinning's big-band singer sister) love ballad, wimpy and sweet even though the theme is morbid.

Dinning shows little emotion in "Teen Angel," but Peterson is anguished, histrionic and adenoidal. In fact, he was apparently too emotional for England, where the "tasteful" and gentle Ricky Valance version went #1 on September 29th, 1960. Jeff Barry, co-author of the tune, is not so sure that the choice of Valance was anything but record label "politics."

The morbid the merrier: in order to stay within Rapidshare's comfy and speedy 100MB, you get 17 covers (as well as Ray's original). Among them: Dickey Lee, John Leyton, Jody Wayne, Ken Levy, Albert West, J. Frank Wilson, Johnny Tillotson and The Rocking Boys. You get foreign language takes by Rex Gildo, Richard Anthony, Italy's Michele and Chile's Ray Palaviccino. There are even some fairly recent versions such as a campy-gay cover from Nessie And Her Beard and a foreign language parody version from Rhodes Rockers, chosen over the more common Billy Connolly live parody version (which you can see for yourself on You Tube).

Back when singles were so much more popular than albums, and radio play was vital, it was also fairly common for "answer songs" to try and cash in on a hit. Yes, you get the two "answer song" versions: "Tell Tommy I Miss Him" from singer/impressionist Marilyn Michaels and one with lyric variations by country crossover queen Skeeter Davis.

Jeff Barry wrote many great hits with the late Ellie Greenwich. This isn't one of them. Before he married her in 1962, Jeff worked with Ben Raleigh. Together they wrote "Lonely Lips," which 20 year-old Jeff recorded himself on RCA.

It was RCA label-mate Ray Peterson (April 23, 1939 – January 25, 2005) who got to sing "Tell Laura I Love Her." Peterson had one last hit ("Corrina Corrina") in 1960, though he continued to sing and make nightclub appearances for decades. Even at the turn of the century, he was not averse to taking part in an oldies show once in a while and singing his teen hit. He was also a Baptist minister in Tennessee.

The cover versions down below are many, and amusing, but even with all the competition, that song still belongs to Ray Peterson. Doesn't it?

TELL LAURA, TELL TOMMY 20 Tunes in your zip file.

Update- As with many files on this blog, Rapidshare deleted it for not having enough downloads within a specific time limit. OK, this blog doesn't throw around Rihanna and Adele stuff, but jeez! Have some respect for minorities! Old and odd "Tell Laura" versions re-upped via another company:

TELL LAURA I LOVE HER, TELL TOMMY I MISS HIM Once again available for download.

EDWARD WOODWARD goes UPWARD at 79

Edward Woodward starred in the TV hits "Callan" and "The Equalizer," and was an Emmy-winner for 1990's "Remembering World War II." Though mostly a television actor, he also was memorable in the films "Breaker Morant" and "The Wicker Man," the latter including a vivid bit of defiant and robust singing.

Woodward actually gained some initial fame as a singer. Among his first important credits were roles in the Broadway musical "Blithe Spirits" and back in the U.K., a musical version of "A Tale of Two Cities." He sang regularly in clubs well before "Callan" gave him TV stardom. With a strong, traditional vocal style, he was no stranger to the recording studio, putting out strangely compelling work. His albums include "Love is the Key" "An Evening with Edward Woodward,""Don't Get Around Much Anymore," "The Jewel That was Ours" "It Had to be You," "Thought of You," "Woodward Again" and "This Man Alone." He didn't avoid contemporary songs, feeling that his unique, older sensibilities could bring out the best in the lyrics.

One obvious choice for this tribute, which comes 3 days after his passing on November 16th, is "Sound of Silence." As an actor concerned with his lines, he decides to change the emphasis in one of the sentences. While Paul Simon was more concerned with the rhythm and rhyme of the song, and sang "and echoes in the wells of silence," Woodward alters the cadence: "And echoed in the wells of silence."

But let's add another song: "The Tide Will Turn for Rebecca," which Woodward chose to record even though its author, Elton John, did not. At the time Woodward immortalized it on vinyl, only a few fans owned a bootleg of Elton's demo version. Both tracks come from "This Man Alone," which also featured his versions of "Eleanor Rigby," "A Taste of Honey" and "Scarborough Fair," as well as the catchy "Today I Killed A Man I Didn't Know."

It might be argued that numbers such as "Sounds of Silence" and "The Tide Will Turn for Rebecca" flourish best when done by an actor who sings, rather than a singer who doesn't act. Both tunes are, in their way, more colorful than the Paul Simon and Elton John versions. It takes an actor to try and make sense of these Taupin lyrics:

"Can you hear the floorboards crying in a room on the second floor, that used to be owned by someone who's no one, but he don't live there anymore
"Only Rebecca clasping her head on her knees, trying to work out what is about
And why someone had to leave.
"But dry up your tears, stop counting the years. Don't worry what's coming. Forget all your fears. And the tide will turn for Rebecca. Her life will change, her hopes rearrange into something that might really matter
"She's all alone in a world of her own with a key that fits her lonely world. You won't need a crowd to shout out aloud what she says deserves to be heard."

Here's to the long career of Edward Woodward (and don't call him "Ed Wood" for short).

Half-Deaf BEVERLY O'SULLIVAN Dies in Crash

Blonde Irish singer Beverly O'Sullivan was killed in Bharatpur, India on November 2nd, the passenger in a car driven by her boyfriend, Steve Reeves.
They were on vacation at the time, the reward for Beverly finishing a film role that included six songs on the soundtrack.

She was beginning a promising solo career, after being a member of "Fifth Avenue," an Irish pop band.

Back in September of 2004, they were hoping to make money off tweens via generic pop music and band members who looked cute. Beverly was the Barbie Doll blonde, there was also a brunette, plus three pretty-boys with varying amounts of short, gel-gopped hair and pubescent stubble.

Their try for a hit single was the ethnic "Spanish Eyes," showing the way too obvious influences of Shakira, Michael Jackson, and sound-alike boy bands. Beverly's solo turn comes about 2 minutes into the tune. You get both the U.K. version and the thumpier dance version. Each had its own music video.

The dance version (www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6FvkLxRmcM) has the band doing basic, club-footed aerobic moves and posturing. Two minutes in, coinciding with her solo turn, Beverly does the orgasmic-moan bit, there's a gratuitous cleavage shot and then a moment for her to press her hand near her crotch, as a sign of lust or cramps. Mostly all five stand around doing the traditional Irish dance known as "dead from the waist up."

Beverly O'Sullivan was capable of more than Riverdance in a Colombian Brothel, or spoiling her smooth vocals with Britney moans, but she spent several years with "Fifth Avenue." She also guested on a piece of generic trance: "Don't Look Back," a noisy number from John O'Callaghan's album "Never Fade." Beverly's vocalise is buried in the mix and disappears quickly in favor of the usual thumps and electronic noises.

It'll be your headache. Beverly's years of pop and trance caused even worse headaches for the lady herself. Aside from being on stage with a loud tween-aimed band, airplane travel aggravated her hearing problems and she suffered an extra 10% loss of hearing while touring with "Fifth Avenue."

"I haven't heard of any other popstars with a hearing aid," O'Sullivan told The Guardian, but the reporter pointed out Pete Townshend, completely deaf in one ear and suffering tinnitus, and Fatboy Slim, Ozzy Osbourne and Phil Collins, all suffering hearing loss. Only Beverly was born with the problem.

Beverly, who routinely took painkillers, and had to be careful while washing her hair to avoid any water getting into her ears, admitted to having a 45% hearing loss in one ear, and 30% in the other. Technically, "unilateral conductive hearing loss" was the problem, which her £2,500, hearing aid somewhat remedied.

At three, she had "glue ear," (wax build-up) and ended up with a perforated eardrum, the hole getting larger over the years. The delicate bones in her middle ear began to give way as well. She recalled, "I had really bad earaches. I was only about three or four and I was screaming my head off...I was always in pain as a child...I can't hear great now either. Things are a bit mumbly."

Able to manage a conversation one-to-one in a quiet room, if her "good ear" was facing the speaker, O'Sullivan joined the band without giving away her secret. It was only after about six months that she had to explain why she needed the monitors to be turned up loud during rehearsals, or why she was sometimes in distress after a long night of music.

O'Sullivan was eager to move on to solo work, singing music more in line with her real interests. With her good looks, she landed a role as a cabaret singer in the film "Happy Ever Afters," singing a half dozen songs on the soundtrack. The film will be released Christmas Day, 2009.
DON'T LOOK BACK trance No pop ups, captchas, pop unders or wait time.

SPANISH EYES, DANCE VERSION

SPANISH EYES, U.K. VERSION

Judy Henske & Craig Doerge by JOHNNY HALLYDAY

The most successful cover version for a song co-authored by Judy Henske is probably "Yellow Beach Umbrella," from Bette Midler. If not, then "Sauvez-Moi" by the internationally beloved Johnny Hallyday.
Judy's lyrics have been re-written into French. The anthemic music remains the same. The song was originally sung by Henske's group "Rosebud," with Judy sharing the vocals with Jerry Yester and Craig Doerge. Monsieur Johnny does a good job by himself though some might be prone to side with Spike Milligan who said that "French singers are the bane of my existence!" Sapristi! The French, from Piaf to Aznavour and back, do have a habit of tattooing a tune with an indelible style of over-emoting, and Hallyday takes it to a rockin' new level of excitement.
SAUVEZ-MOI

ROWAN ATKINSON sings as FAGIN

Rather than do the same thing as he ages (and be called an Old Bean) Rowan Atkinson has taken on new challenges, including singing in a big London musical. Critics have been cheering his version of Fagin for, among other things, bringing out the pedophiliac angle of the old man's lack of character, which probably was something the very gay Lionel Bart chuckled about when he first concocted OLIVER.

Critics are also glad that throughout the show Rowan unloads every spare eye-pop and grimace that he might have been saving for a fresh Blackadder special. Considering that the show has the gimmick of a female lead chosen via TV reality show, OLIVER would have failed miserably without Atkinson's star presence.

Perhaps in a year or two, this new production will be made into a cable TV special or even a feature-length movie. It would be a welcome subsitute for the weak movie version that offered the bland duo of Shani Wallis as Nancy and Marc Lester as Oliver, along with the somewhat anti-Semitic job done by Ron Moody as Fagin. In the meantime, if you're curious about Rowan's singing abilities, here's one of the comic highlights from the musical, as nutsy Fagin finds himself "Reviewing the Situation."
ROWAN ATKINSON as FAGIN

CHEN LIN...FALLS NINE FLOORS

A beloved singer who once had a million-selling album ("I Can Never Understand Your Love" in 1993), Chen Lin died after a fall from the ninth floor of an apartment in Beijing. It was the home of a friend. She had a bandage on her neck (caused, friends said, by a recent failed suicide attempt), and the corpse was wearing a mask, which might be ceremonial.

I doubt that Halloween is celebrated in China. Her masked pavement surfing on October 31st probably had nothing to do with pumpkins and black cats, and everything to do with that date being her ex-husband's birthday. He's not likely to celebrate his birthday quite so cheerfully for many years to come, which was no doubt her intent.

He's Zhu Shu Entertainment's powerful CEO Shen Yongge. They were married twelve years and it was for his record label that Chen Lin scored her biggest hits. She was newly married (in July to singer Zhang Chaofeng), but that was also the last time she posted anything on her blog. She put out a new EP in August, but the next few months were apparently full of disappointment and woe.

The death of Chen Lin (January 31, 1970-October 31, 2009) is the third major suicide of an Asian superstar in only a few years. This blog previously reported on the beautiful, irreplaceable actress-singer Eun-ju Lee, and the pop idol U-Nee. Those with long memories can add Jun Zi and Xie Jin, whose names, together when Chen Lin, Eun-ju Lee and U-Nee would form quite a grim eye-chart.

Chen Lin tried to do some good with her fame, as long as it lasted. In 2000, she used her popularity to become the "Green Ambassador" for the China Environmental Protection Foundation. Sadly, her new EP apparently didn't bring her much buzz, and her equally new marriage didn't fulfill her expectations. She wasn't about to cover Graham Parker's tune "Life Gets Better."

Chen Lin, like Jack Benny, will always be 39.

"Yu-Ye" is as timeless as a pop ballad can be, unmarred by the synths or dance beats or other production quirks that tend to render a song out of date. The other sample, another good one for Chen, is "Confiscate Your Love." Instant downloads or listen on line. No creepy captcha codes, no prurient porno ads, no time-waits from download "services" that want you to pay them for music they don't pay the artists to distribute.
YU-YE by CHEN LIN
CONFISCATE YOUR LOVE by CHEN LIN

COYOTES KILLED YOUNG FOLKIE...Taylor Mitchell

Here's your Halloween horror...a talented 19 year-old singer who released her first CD less than six months ago has died after being mauled by two coyotes.

Taylor Mitchell was hiking in Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Highlands National Park when she was set upon by the wild animals. Park rangers rushed to the scene, fired some shots, and wounded one of the coyotes. The animals raced away. So far nobody knows if the coyotes were rabid.

Fatally mauled, Taylor died the following day, October 28, after being airlifted to a hospital in Halifax. In a remarkable statement to reporters, Taylor's mom, Emily Mitchell, voiced concern for the hunt that brought down several coyotes in the area.

"When the decision had been made to kill the pack of coyotes, I clearly heard Taylor's voice say, 'Please don't, this is their space." She wouldn't have wanted their demise, especially as a result of her own." This was reportedly only the second fatal incident involving coyotes and humans. The first was back in 1981 when a 3 year-old girl, Kelly Keen, was killed near her home in Glendale, California.

Emily Mitchell added, "She loved the woods and had a deep affinity for their beauty and serenity. Tragically, it was her time to be taken from us so soon."

Too soon? The timing was rotten. She had just been nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award as "Young Performer of the Year," and she won praise at July's Winnipeg Folk Festival for her performance, and her debut CD, "For Your Consideration." Some felt she showed the same promise as another Canadian artist, Joni ("No Regrets Coyote") Mitchell, who was not related to young Taylor.

For your consideration, listen to two of her remarkably mature, and instantly haunting songs, "Clarity" and "Don't Know How I Got Here." You'll find more about Taylor, and the Taylor Mitchell Memorial Fund, at her website: http://www.taylormitchell.ca.
DON'T KNOW HOW I GOT HERE by TAYLOR MITCHELL
CLARITY by TAYLOR MITCHELL

THE SOUP GETS COLD: SOUPY SALES DIES at 83

I was glad to see so many write-ups on Soupy Sales...newspapers, blogs, even International coverage. Maybe he's looking down from that big pie in the sky, thinking, "Wow, I really did make a lot of people happy." Because that's all he wanted to do.

Unlike some of the celebs profiled here, Soupy was not underappreciated, though he may have been underused. In his prime, he had a hit single ("The Mouse,") appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show with The Beatles, hosted "Hullabaloo," issued six albums and was such a fad favorite there were Soupy trading cards, flicker rings, Halloween masks and magazines. He was offered the lead for "Gilligan's Island," but turned it down, holding out for (and getting) what he thought was better: a lead in a movie ("Birds Do It") followed by Broadway ("Come Live With Me').

While the fad for his pie-in-the-face hipster/kiddie comedy faded in the late 60's, he really didn't, because he was beloved. He became a panelist on "What's My Line" in 1967 and was a regular on game shows for decades. Fans went to see him in stand-up, they bought his joke book, and they listened to him on local radio stations. Long after the days when he hung around with puppet-hands Pookie, Black Tooth and White Fang, he was recording songs for Motown and a stand-up comedy album for MCA.

He never lost that soft North Carolina accent, with which he drawled a cheery "Hey...how are ya," to fans recognizing him on the street. He and his family had an apartment in the East 30's, in New York City, and he was known around the neighborhood for being friendly and kind-hearted.

Sure, he had a cranky side, but he generally kept it private...he was painfully irked by all the "legendary" anecdotes about him that were not true. NO, he didn't go on camera and tell kiddies a baseball joke about a fan who kissed his girl between the strikes while she kissed him between the balls. So many other dumb jokes attributed to him never happened.

He was also not pleased that he couldn't live down the one gag that was real; the time he jokingly told kids to send him some of their parents' "green pieces of paper." The important word: JOKINGLY. People remember it and tell it as if he really wanted money. The truth: "I never did it to get any money, it was just a joke. The punch line was "If you send me those pieces of paper, you know what I'm gonna send you? A postcard from Puerto Rico!"

And NO, he didn't get fired for having a naked girl jiggle on camera. She was off screen and the existing tape of the practical joke was taken by a camera that wasn't broadcasting. The joke wasn't done by Soupy, it was done TO Soupy. The girl was well out of camera range, standing in the same area usually reserved for Frank Nastase (the guy who wore the White Fang claw and arm, the only part of the monster dog that was ever shown).

NO, he wasn't called "Soupy" because his real name was "Hines" same as a soup company, it was a play on his real last name, Supman. So yes, this type of stuff, plus any demeaning comments about him being just a kiddie host involved in low humor, tended to knit Soupy's brow.

What un-knit that brow was turning up at memorabilia shows and seeing how many thousands of fans remembered him so fondly. He was always busy signing pictures and kidding with the fans, but around 2006, we all became more and more worried about the glassy look in his eye, and the literal jaw-drop, and his wandering attention span. It was sadly just a matter of time before he no longer attended the shows, or turned up at the Friar's Club.

The obits and comments out there are vivid and plentiful because those who bought his records, saw him on TV , heard his radio shows, and met him in person, take this loss personally, because he was everyone's friend. He sure was one of mine.

A little bit of Soupy silliness for you..."Soupy Sez," with the puppets of course, and Neil Hefti's theme song for the TV show. No waiting, no ads for porn or whiter teeth, and no captcha words to type in. Just download or listen on line:
SOUPY'S THEME
SOUPY SEZ

VIC MIZZY : You Made Me Dizzy Mr. Mizzy

"Don't cross the street in the middle in the middle in the middle in the middle in the middle of the block. Use your eyes to look up! Use your ears to hear! Walk up to the corner when the coast is clear...
...and wait. And wait. Until you see the light turn green!"

Vic's PSA TV commercial to teach kids not to jaywalk was his most familiar melody...until he wrote "The Addams Family" and "Green Acres" themes. He loved that jaywalking song so much he even used it (sans lyrics) as background in various episodes of "The Addams Family."

You were expecting a normal obit? On this blog?

Here's another odd fact about Vic. His first popular songs (not so popular anymore) were co-written by the legendary Irving Taylor, who, late in life, created some oddball musical comedy albums for Warner Bros. Those tunes include "There's a Faraway Look in Your Eye," "Three Little Sisters," (covered by the Andrews Sisters, natch) and "Take It Easy." Vic's best known songs as far as your grandma would be concerned, were "My Dreams are Getting Better All the Time," sung by Doris Day and "The Jones Boy" from The Mills Brothers.

Vic, an N.Y.U. grad from Brooklyn, sauced cauliflower ears via a variety of odd tunes that crackled across the radio airwaves or sputtered on juke boxes, but it wasn't until TV was in full swing that he finally found his calling: theme songs.

"Green Acres" is his best known expositional song...where the lyrics are supposed to tell the audience what the show is about. Below, you'll find three more of 'em, each trying to explain a bad sitcom premise: "The Pruitts of Southampton" (Phyllis Diller singing), "Double Life of Henry Phyfe" ("Who Me" cries the show's star Red Buttons) and "Captain Nice," the super hero spoof that battled "Mr. Terrific" for a year.

Mizzy's first major movie soundtrack was for "The Night Walker," which was, as you'd expect from a William Castle film, half horror and half horror parody. (More on that one below). Vic also scored Castle's "The Busy Body," and a fist full of Don Knotts movies, notably "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken." Even in his 80's he was in demand, sought out to supply some music for "Spiderman 2."

Le Miz had a home in high class Bel Air, thanks in part to royalties from his finger-snapping "Addams Family" theme song. Maybe a few dollars came in when They Might Be Giants decided to cover "In the Middle," his jaywalking PSA commercial. He died on October 17th, age 93, leaving behind a daughter, and a website where a self-pressed CD of songs "For the Jogging Crowd" was sold. It's momentarily high-priced on eBay and Amazon, but a cheap download at eMusic.com.

VIC's PHYLLIS DILLER, RED BUTTONS and CAPTAIN NICE themes Instant download or listen on line. No pop-ups, screen captchas or wait time.
Don't cross the street "IN THE MIDDLE" Instant Download or Listen On Line

Sticky Mr. Mizzy co-wrote CHOO'N GUM

This post comes with a warning.

If you listen more than once to the cutie-pie tune "Choo'n Gum," you will loathe it with a passion...and find that you also can't get it out of your head, any more than you can easily get the junk itself off the sole of your shoe.

The only thing surprising about "Choo'n Gum," an impossibly catchy song you love to hate, is that it was not covered by Danny Kaye, Prince of the Irritating Ditty. Danny was the guy who made you wonder if "puckish" should be spelled with an f. Perhaps the only reason he missed "Choo'n Gum" is that he swallowed it while singing "Mommy Gimme A Drinka Water."

Though it wasn't OK for Danny, it was a kayo hit for the terminally perky Teresa Brewer. It was also covered by that satirist of crooning, the lovably insincere Dean Martin.

No doubt when Dino was handed this piece of gooey fazool he thought of it in terms of dollars, rather than sense. He knew if "Doggie in the Window," "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth" and the pedophiliac-sick "Come Onna My House (I'm Gonna Give You Candy)" could be hits, why not this piece of... gum? Besides, if he'd let Jerry Lewis sing it, radio tubes may have exploded.

The Vic Mizzy-Manny Curtis bit of novelty-sadism from 1950 goes like so:

"My mom gave me a nickel to buy a pickle. I didn't buy a pickle, I bought some choo'n gum
Choo, choo, choo, choo, choo, choo'n gum. How I love choo'n gum. I'm crazy over choo'n gum, I chew, chew, chew!
My aunt gave me a quarter for soda water. I didn't buy the water. I bought some choo'n gum. (chorus)
I chew the day away, it seems. I'm even blowin' bubbles in my dreams
My pop gave me a dollar to buy a collar. You should have heard him holler when I bought choo'n gum!
Choo, choo, choo, choo, choo, choo'n gum. How I love choo'n gum..."

78 rpm cover versions include The Andrews Sisters, Don and Lou Robertson (on Coral, also in 45 rpm), Ella Fitzgerald, Lynn Howard and Toni Harper (later released on the album "Candy Store Blues"). The Yum Yum Kids with the MGM Marshmallow Orchestra did it in 1966 and in 1998, Maria Muldaur. If you consider one of the lines in the song, it could've been covered by Michael Jackson: "I'm even blowin' Bubbles in my dreams."

Which reminds me...don't remind me about George Rock, and "I'm Forever Blowing Bubble Gum." ICK!

Five versions was pushing the limit: Teresa Brewer with the Dixieland All Stars, Tippy Brown and the Peter Pan Orchestra, Audrey Marsh with the Ray Arthur Quartet, Toby Deane and Dean Martin.

Update: Nov, 2011. Rapidshare's annoying "30 days without a download kills it" policy killed the original link. I've re-upped it:

Choon Gum Songs

and if you just want the Dean Martin version it's below...

DEAN MARTIN gets GUMMY

VIC MIZZY Paul Frees Sammy Kaye NIGHT WALKER

One of Vic Mizzy's best movie scores was for "The Night Walker," a nightmare movie directed by William Castle and featuring the last film role for screamin' Barbara Stanwyck. In your download below, you get Vic's theme music in two very different ways.

First, there's the actual soundtrack prologue...Mizzy's classic musical ook (half "Experiment in Terror" half "Addams Family") with Paul Frees offering some scary taunts about dreams and paranoia.

This is Frees in his dramatic "Orson Welles" mode, which he perfected way back when he was the host of radio's "Escape." Paul was a bit irked that Welles got so much attention when they both had almost the same burly vocal skills. When Orson would sometimes invade Paul's territory by doing a voiceover for a coming attraction, Paul would even mock him in the movie theater, asking out loud why the great actor was trying to pick up a few extra bucks doing a commercial.

Frees is known to the Halloween crowd for his "Spike Jones Spooktacular" album (doing Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff and Alfred Hitchcock among others), his own bizarre "Poster People" disc, and for his "Haunted Mansion" narrations (including the well-loved line "Welcome Foolish Mortals..."). He was Ludwig von Drake (among others) for Disney, and his amazingly versatile voice allowed him to be gruff Boris Badenov on the "Rocky and Bullwinkle Show" and the smooth, high-pitched Pillsbury Doughboy in dozens of TV commercials.

Mizzy's "Night Walker" theme was, very oddly enough, recorded by Sammy Kaye and his Orchestra. It appeared on his very eclectic Decca album "Dancetime," which included "Eight Days a Week," "Red Roses for a Blue Lady" and another un-danceable movie theme, "Goldfinger."

You get both versions below....
SAMMY KAYE instant download or listen on line

NIGHT WALKER PAUL FREES narration

LOU JACOBI "Al Tijuana" Herb Alpert comic was 95

Among Demento-heads, Lou Jacobi was best known as "Al Tijuana," for a late 60's Capitol parody album that kosherized music in Herb Alpert's style.

I'll tell you an anecdote about Lou Jacobi. I was on a crosstown bus, and as I looked out the window, I felt like I was in a Woody Allen movie. There in front of me, in cinemascope via the long bus windows, was Lou Jacobi, slowly puffing to catch the bus. I looked up ahead. The last passenger waiting was paying the fare. The bus driver began to pull away just as Lou made it to the bus stop.

I watched him as the bus pulled away, leaving him behind.

He had a smile on his face.

That tells you something about Mr. Jacobi...how genuine his attitude was about the comedy of life. Somebody else would've been cursing, shaking his head, feeling enraged. But in Mr. Jacobi's gentle world, no doubt influenced by Sholom Aleichem and centuries of ironic Jewish humor, he simply smiled. What do you expect? Of course when you run for a bus, it pulls out the minute you get to the door!

Toronto-born Louis Jacobovitch started as a stand-up comedian but found more success as a character actor, first in England (his film debut was in the Diana Dors comedy "Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary") then on Broadway in 1955 for "The Diary of Anne Frank." He appeared in the film version, too, and his movie credits include "My Favorite Year," "Irma La Douce," "Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex," and "Avalon." His last film was "I.Q." in 1994.

Mr. Jacobi even had a chance at sitcom stardom, via the obscure and short-lived "Ivan the Terrible" in 1976.

He had hits on vinyl, being the lead in the ensemble cast albums "You Don't Have to be Jewish" and "When You're In Love the Whole World is Jewish." Then he "starred" on his own album, "Al Tijuana and his Jewish Brass," giving introductions to klezmer-spiked versions of hit tunes of the day...an odd attempt to win over some Jewish listeners of Herb Alpert records (Yes, Alpert himself was also Jewish). The key selling point was that warmly familiar and comical Lou Jacobi face and body on the cover.

The album, which WFMU uploaded in nice stereo years ago, isn't exactly a laugh riot, just gently tilted. "Buenos noches, amigos and amigettes," Lou announces on the opening track, "this is Al Tijuana with the sweetest music this side of the Rio Grande." Indeed, opening cut "It's Not Unusual" is played pretty straight...except for a bit of kazoo and overenthusiastic marimba. "That's NOT the sweetest music this side of the Rio Grande?" Lou asks midway through. He answers his own question: "It's the sweetest music on either side of the Rio Grande!"

The disc was aimed at middle-aged Hadassah listeners who might smirk at hearing a Tevye-like "bum bum didel-ee-yum dum" chorus replacing Henry Mancini's prowling bass line on "Peter Gunn," or "Downtown" with a fiddler on the roof interjecting a solo. Lou: "You like it! You keep asking for it. You're getting it!" And yes, at one point you hear, "Ole, ole. Oy vey, oy vey!" Like Lou himself, the album wasn't too pushy. It was more of an easy-listening novelty album than anything to rival Allan Sherman.

The humor was simply in the familiar characterization of a Jewish uncle getting silly (and crooning "Doobie doobie do" ala Sinatra during "Stranger in the Night."). The instrumentals that jonesed the originals weren't Spiked with wild sound effects. There were no punchy gags. Al introduces "Never on Sunday" as actually being "Never on Saturday." One song merely ends: "That's it, amigos and amigettes, from Al Tijuana and his Jewish Brass...until next time, Hasta Luego. Or, how you say...goodbye, Bubbie." Adios, Mr. Jacobi, and thanks for the autographed photo.

Mr. Jacobi's wife Ruth died in 2004 (they were married in 1957) and he passed away on October 23rd.
AL TIJUANA and his JEWISH BRASS

JENNY DARREN - "LAY ME LIKE A LADY!"

Dylan once sang a wistful tune, "Lay Lady Lay."
He was singing softly to someone demure...he may not have been able to handle a hurricane like Jenny Darren!
A British blues belter who may have been more than even fans of Janis Joplin or Elkie Brooks could handle, Darren made a few albums with some tracks that could shred your ears as they purge your libido.
The evidence still exists on her late 70's vinyl. These days Jenny's grooming some mean singers via her work as a teacher and lecturer. After work at Croydon College in the early 90's, she went on to the Colchester Institute. She returned to the studio in 1997 to record Helen Mirren's singing voice for the soundtrack to the British TV drama "Painted Lady." You can buy that one at JennyDarren.com, but you may need to drop by your local starving record dealer or peruse eBay to find her two early albums on DJM.
Jenny still performs from time to time, and has a home studio and teaches students the finer points of jazz, but no doubt if a ballsy babe wants to learn how to sing like a Sam Brown, Elkie Brooks or Jenny Darren herself...she'd be happy to put a tune like "Lay Me Like a Lady" on the turntable and take it from there.
She's a powerful singer, a great talent, a super teacher...now download a song that can both arouse and frighten you at the same time. It's Jenny Darren wailin' LAY ME LIKE A LADY! To paraphrase Tina Turner's intro to "Proud Mary," Jenny starts out nice, and then she gets hot...and nasty!

JENNY DARREN, LAY ME LIKE A LADY

Rusty Weir dead "Don't It Make You Wanna Dance"

Well, no, the news of Rusty Wier's death (May 3, 1944 - October 9, 2009) doesn't make you wanna dance, but in any of the obits on him, it was a key line. This was Rusty's most famous song. It had the Raitt stuff...appearing on "Urban Cowboy" in Bonnie's version, which went Double Platinum. Barbara Mandrell covered it, as did Jerry Jeff Walker. One of the more elegant versions, (below) was done by the late Canadian C&W artist Colleen Peterson (who is featured elsewhere on this blog). It was naturally a staple of Rusty's act, and you also get his live 1992 version.

On Rusty's website, the tributes have poured in. Rusty had cancer in his last years, but Joe Ables, of the Saxon Pub (where Rusty played most Thursday nights for 14 years) recalled, "I’ve seen him sicker ’n a dog, but hit the stage, and you’d never know it. A true professional....I use Rusty as an example to these younger acts, who get a little sniffle and then want to cancel."

“Just make ’em smile," Rusty used to say. "It’s what I’m there for. They’re not there to hear all my problems. And I do my best to make ’em laugh.” He began his career as a drummer, but in his native Texas, he switched from rock groups to work as a country singer and songwriter, eventually touring with the Charlie Daniels and Marshall Tucker bands, The Outlaws, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, the Atlanta Rhythm Section, Pure Prairie League, The Allman Brothers, Commander Cody, Asleep at the Wheel, Doug Kershaw, and George Strait.

He released over a dozen albums, and on his website, he ran a RUSTYPOD for some free audio fun. His last CD was "I Stood Up," and in his last years, he co-wrote some songs with his talented sons Bon and Coby. Check out more about Rusty at his dot com.

Don't It Make You Wanna Dance: COLLEEN PETERSON
Don't It Make You Wanna Dance: RUSTY WIER, live recording

Comical IAN WALLACE in the glorious mud at 90

An opera singer at Glyndebourne and the Scottish Opera, the late Ian Wallace was best known to British audiences for his amazing 27 year run on radio quiz programme "My Music." He never missed an episode.
For comedy fans, he will remain fondly remembered for his 1956 and 1957 comedy ep's for Parlophone, which popularized the songs of Flanders and Swann (and featured Donald Swann on piano). His 1956 "Wallace's Private Zoo" predates "The Bestiary of Flanders and Swann," and features the Rhinocerous, Warthog, Elephant, and that classic, The Hippopotamus Song (Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud).
The 1956 "Wallace Collection of Human Portraits" included another favorite Flanders and Swann item, "Transport of Delight," (in the download below).
When Flanders and Swann first staged an "after-dinner farrago," Michael Flanders said it was because various artists, such as Ian Wallace, had played their compositions, "but not nearly enough!" With lyricist Flanders not only being an able singer of his own songs, but a delightful monologist and narrator, Flanders and Swann became international stars and appeared on Broadway twice before going their separate ways.
Ian Wallace, though unknown in America and not an international name either, remained a U.K. legend, and as you'd expect, was recognized by his government with an O.B.E. For more on Ian Wallace ((July 10, 1919 – October 12, 2009) you can go to the man himself, and his books: "Promise Me You'll Sing Mud" and "Nothing Quite Like It."
TRANSPORT OF DELIGHT, by Flanders & Swann, sung by Ian Wallace Instant download or listen on line.

THROW YOUR PANTIES OVERBOARD - BOB DYLAN live track

Here's "High Water," as recorded live on tour by Bob this summer. Some of the growling lyrics:
"I got a cravin' love for blazing speed
Got a hopped up Mustang Ford
Jump into the wagon, love, throw your panties overboard
I can write you poems, make a strong man lose his mind
I'm no pig without a wig
I hope you treat me kind..."
The always contradictory and fascinating Bob once performed "Love Sick" on a TV commercial to sell Victoria's Secret panties.
In this song, he's saying "throw your panties overboard." Maybe so that she'll have to go to Victoria's Secret the next day to buy more! Who knows what his deal with VS could be.
And why, come to think of it, did he chose "Love Sick" (ie, "I'm sick of love") as the tune to use for a turn-on commercial?
Oh, you can spend endless hours trying to figure out Dylan, if you're willin'.
Like, why boast to a woman that you can write poems that make a strong man lose his mind?
Like, doesn't "overboard" generally involve being on a boat, not a Ford Mustang? Or is he saying the water's so friggin' high, his car has become a boat? If you really are expectin' answers, then you're also expectin' rain.
soundboard 2009 HIGH WATER Bob Dylan

BELA LUGOSI sings BEGIN THE BEGUINE (Guy Marks)

Answer: "Guy Marks."
Question: "What do you find all over Paris Hilton's body?"
Comedy fans of a certain vintage (ones that remember this A&Q routine from either Steve Allen or Johnny Carson) know all about Guy Marks. He was an offbeat comedian-mimic who not only worked Vegas and nightclubs, but even managed to convince record labels to indulge his strange ideas.
How strange? How about a spoken word single imagining Humphrey Bogart as an Indian scout translating for a chief whose fondest desire is to sing "Volare?" Or, a deadpan album of old-time rotten 20's novelty tunes promoted by the freshly penned "Loving You Has Made Me Bananas?" Or, his "Hollywood Sings?" where 40's movie stars are imagined singing 40's hit songs?
On that one, Guy offered the logical ("As Time Goes By" from Bogart), the acceptable (Clark Gable doing "I'll Be Seeing You") and the ludicrous..."Begin the Beguine" via a highly stylized version of Bela Lugosi.
With respect to de Maupassant. Mr. Marks remains Illfolks' favorite Guy.
BEGIN THE BEGUINE. Guy Marks as Bela Lugosi

HOME IS WHERE THE HATRED IS - esther phillips

What's home for you? A place of peace, love and tranquility? Or...
...a misery because you share it with a slob?
Is it soured by some ethnic idiot's obnoxious music, stinking cooking, or screechy collection of repulsive semi-human brats?
Is it scarred by the constant barking of a neighbor's stupid dog?
Is it spoiled by a landlord that won't fix the leaks or keep the place heated?
Got some bitch upstairs with high heels? Some heel downstairs who spends his time tinkering stuff together with the constant tap-tap-tap of a hammer? How about retired old people with diverticulitis who have the TV volume FULL BLAST all day?
Maybe you've got fratboy retards upstairs who boogie till they puke...which isn't until 4am after they've finished the 12th sing-along to "Bohemian Rhapsody."
Or is your home just a place to hang your head because it's got a lousy view, is in a high-crime location, or is a money pit?
You should love being home, in your "castle," in your refuge from life's aggravation. If you're not, then home is where the hatred is, and your only escape might be drugs...enough of them to make you forget where you are, and possibly even who you are.
Try imagining a place where it's always safe and warm, and where there's shelter from the storm. Maybe it's only in your imagination during a drugged dream, and you know in reality that "Almost Home," is nothing but the name of a chemical-filled brand of cookie.
Singing "Home is Where the Hatred Is," is Esther Phillips.
Born Esther Mae Jones (December 23, 1935-August 7, 1984), the teenage "Little Esther" was a sensation, and in 1950, was signed by Herman Lubinsky to his Savoy label. She had a string of R&B chart hits including "Wedding Boogie," "Misery" and "Deceivin' Blues." Her huge success in 1950 led her to leave Savoy and sign with Sid Nathan's rival Federal...where she had almost no luck at all. She made it back but it took a turbulent decade of work, touring, drug abuse and a name change ("Esther Phillips," using a last name borrowed from a petroleum product she saw at a gas station.)
Her Beatles cover version "And I Love Him" led the Fab Four to invite her to play the U.K. in 1964. Substance abuse once again became a problem, but Esther emerged at the turn of the 70's stronger than ever, with critics raving over her Grammy-nominated album "From a Whisper to a Scream," and her cover of Gil Scott-Heron's "Home is Where the Hatred Is."
A few years later, she was even mainstream enough to appear on "Saturday Night Live." But Esther paid a price for the years of drug and alcohol abuse...at only 48, she was dead of liver and kidney failure. Her home is now Morning Light section, Lot 2591, Interment Space 2 at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles.
HOME IS WHERE THE HATRED IS

"EVILE" MIKE ALEXANDER ENTERS THE GRAVE

Last month, bassist Mike Alexander (6/22/77-10/5/09) along with another member of his band EVILE, journeyed to Manhattan for promo interviews. His interracial UK thrash group then began a European tour on the bill with Amon Amarth. After a few dates, something was wrong with Mike. At a hospital in Sweden, he died of a brain hemorrhage.
His three bandmates released a joint statement:
"This is so hard to find the words to express fully how we feel. We can't believe or accept what's happened...."
Which is pretty ironic for guys who titled their recent debut album "Enter the Grave," which features "Darkness Shall Bring Death" and "We Who Are About To Die."
"One minute we're talking to our buddy, Mike, the next minute we can never speak to him again. There's so many things rushing through our heads that we want to say, do and
feel. We half expect him to come round the corner and call us 'dickheads'.
We can't get our heads around it."
We've all listened to headbanger, trash, thrash, morbid, acid rock or heavy metal bands in our turbulent teen years, where every day was a contentious or pretentious Halloween.
If you remember fondly your times listening to Black Sabbath or Alice Cooper, and wonder what the kids in the trailer park are splitting their skulls to, your sample of EVILE is below.
EVILE finished a new album, "Infected Nations," and in a tribute to the days when music mattered enough to buy and keep an album in a revered place in your home, they put out a limited edition double LP set on VINYL. They even printed up limited edition red vinyl and white vinyl versions -- only 200 copies each!
So if "We Who Are About To Die" makes you recall Ozzy or Alice, or it makes your brain churn, or you're particularly impressed with the literary allusion to Julius Caesar, sure, you'll probably download the entire "Enter the Grave" for free somewhere. But maybe, you'll want to buy the new one on vinyl! What a devilish thought!
EVILE - WE WHO ARE ABOUT TO DIE

SHE'S BACK.... CHI COLTRANE

Sept. 30, 2009 : Muziekcentrum Eindhoven - Eindhoven
Fri. Oct. 2, 2009 : Muziekcentrum - Enschede
Oct. 4, 2009 : Philharmonie - Haarlem (Amsterdam)
Oct. 6, 2009 : De Lawei - Drachten
Oct. 9, 2009 : Stadsschouwburg - Middelburg
Oct. 10, 2009 : Vredenburg - Utrecht
Oct. 13, 2009 : De Tamboer - Hoogeveen
Oct. 14, 2009 : Stedelijk Concertgebouw - Leiden

Yes, it's true, the return of Chi Coltrane on tour starts TOMORROW.

You can go to YouTube and check out her bold first appearance in public...at an outdoor concert in Vienna, where she is in total command of the crowd. Any tweens and 20-somethings wondering "Who's this Hot Lips Houlihan with a black jazz man's last name..." will see that Chi smacks a piano harder than Ray Charles and her "sweet shout" Gospel-tinged delivery can still lash into roars and snarls. It was proof she's ready to try a tour.

This long overdue illfolks tribute was delayed because I knew she was planning a return, and I wanted to salute it when it happened.

Coltrane's early 70's hit "Thunder and Lightning" blazed up the charts. Then critics took a closer look, and apparently were surprised that the woman belting that song was a beautiful blonde...someone "too white" to be authentic. Chi (pronounced "shy") was, after all, from Wisconsin, part of Lawrence Welk land. She has never lost the tendency-ah to end a sentence-ah with an extra vowel...a trait also uncomfortably associated with the Swaggart style used to preach religion-ah.

Perhaps some of the Archies who saw her album covers, expected a sweet Betty to Linda Ronstadt's Veronica, and were unprepared for someone who could growl. Listen to the way she sings "what am I to do" on "You Were My Friend" - she sounds the way a wet cat looks.

Even on a passionate ballad, such as "Ooh Baby," Chi will not stay pretty and passive. That song is an emotional roller coaster of hushed sighs and powerful yearning, and it's easy to understand how people could be a little surprised and alarmed by it...it's like cuddling an ocelot...it's furry, it's kissable, but it can turn dangerous, too. Chi's snarling vocals on some notes make you almost think she might grow fangs. We want our ladies to sing soft songs vulnerably, ala Billie Holiday, or powerful songs strongly, ala Aretha, but Chi was doing both.

Some of her best songs have that mixed message; sweet vocals that turn into Gospel "whoa ho ho" whoops, pretty melodies punctuated by fierce full-bodied chords...it makes for a unique, individual and challenging artist. Publicists, writers and disc jockeys couldn't categorize her as easily as Ronstadt or Aretha...

....so after two Columbia albums (and despite the enthusiasm of Clive Davis), Chi slipped off the label, and remained adrift for three years until 1977's "Road to Tomorrow." This was a brilliant album, but unfortunately on Clouds, a small subsidiary of T.K., a label that pushed disco junk such as "K.C. and the Sunshine Band."

When that album, and its gorgeous cover photo, failed to re-ignite her career here, Coltrane moved to Europe, finding a strong following in Holland and Germany, where an attractive white woman could sing with black gospel influences and be lauded for it. Europeans were also enthusiastic about her very American, Evangelical approach to lyrics of life and love. In concert, she could mention "Jesus, my lord" without getting groans.

You can hear that line on "You," from her lone live album, one of three she recorded for Germany's Teldec label in the 80's...albums that fetched big prices from American fans fighting to out-bid each other on eBay for them.

Through the years there were whispers about Chi's emotional fragility, which is part of the temperament of singer/songwriters. The pressures of coming up with another "Thunder and Lightning" were great, the end of her two-lp deal with Columbia had to be painful, and the lack of interest in "Road to Tomorrow" a major disappointment. Yet, Chi's years in Germany, and the albums she made, retained her trademark energy and drive.

So what happened? Where was she for the past two decades?

"I had a debilitating illness for many years, similar to chronic fatigue syndrome, which left me too tired to tour. But I was fortunate enough to find a doctor who uses herbal treatments, and who has helped me overcome this affliction. I'm completely recovered and ready to resume my recording and performing career."

You can buy her new CD via her website. Last time I checked, she even had autographed copies available. While there aren't many new songs on it (it's mostly a "best of" tracks from the Teldec albums of the 80's) her recent works show that she's as dynamic and sensitive as ever, and that's quite a combination to have fighting inside anyone's mind and body.

Her "best of" the Columbia era is still around on CD, but she's surprisingly hard to find on iTunes, eMusic and the usual suspects. Her self-made "best of" (with the two fresh tracks) is a good place to start, especially since you can probably still get an autographed version of it...try autographing an mp3 file!

The photo above? Vintage Chi on her "Road to Tomorrow" album (she autographed it, "I hope you like it...") and the new CD.

Your introduction to the vast tapestry of Chi Coltrane greatness: four live tracks. "You Were My Friend" with its honest pain, "You," a ballad that her powerful voice makes one of strength more than subservience, "Leavin' It All Behind," a typical piano-pounding song of joyous contradictions ("Christmas, in the middle of May") and the rousing "Go Like Elijah." You, go, Chi. And if any of you can go to a Chi Coltrane concert...don't be shy. You won't be converted into anything but a fan.

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

CHI COLTRANE LIVE
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.

SHE'S BACK..... BEVERLEY CRAVEN

BANBURY : October 02
CANTERBURY: October 03
BEWDLEY : October 15
DARTFORD: October 16
BRAINTREE: October 17
LIVERPOOL: October 21

Beverley Craven's released her first album in ten years. (The last one, "Mixed Emotions," was recorded at Abbey Road). "Close to Home" on her own Campsie Music label, is available direct via her website. Two highlights are the captivating "Is it Only Me?" which has a bit of the minor key pop-hook magic of ABBA (pardon the expression) and the cutting "Fun, Fun Fun," which are purely Craven-crafted, with her softly urgent vocals seasoned by varying influences, from R&B (she was once a back-up singer for Bobby Womack) to the flights of fancy associated with Kate Bush.

Beverley took her long hiatus to raise her family. Her career started with one of the most spectacular debuts in British pop history. Her first album went double platinum (over a million sold) and stayed on the U.K. charts for a solid year. Her breathy phrasing is unique; nobody sounds like her. The warm, wistful and romantic "Promise Me" was a big International hit, and while there were tasty numbers on her next two albums, trying to live up to the first had to be frustrating.

To be honest, some of her material is definitely girly-girl, or "View"-worthy ("Woman to Woman" and a number about the "tick tock of her biological clock.") Some of her new songs are candy-coated, but it does seem that many Beverley fans crave that side of her. At the Illfolks blog, the first track, the McCartneyesque "Rainbow," is always skipped. It opens: "Look at that bird, sitting in a tree, singing its little heart out! Look at that cloud, a picture in the sky, and the sunlight through the leaves. All I know, it's beautiful...there are no rainbows without the rain!"

In America, with an overwhelming number of jazz-pop women on the charts, from Basia to Whitney Houston to Carly Simon, Craven made less of an impression, and that first album didn't stay on the charts anywhere near the year it did in the U.K. I knew nothing about her when I happened upon her CD in a store, and her slightly melancholy cover photo (and her last name) plus the stamp of Epic made it seem well worth a gamble.

Your introduction to Beverley Craven is the last cut on that first album from 1990. It's atypical, really, since she's using more of her smooth groove voice. A dirge ballad with more than a dash of New Orleans funeral music to it, "Missing You" is the kind of song of sweet sorrow that recalls romantic writers of the past, include Edgar A. Poe. (Poe fans no doubt wish that Beverley was somehow related to Dr Erasmus Craven, as played by Vincent Price in "The Raven.")
MISSING YOU. But fans missing Beverley Craven for 10 years...she's BACK!

W.C. Fields fake: SMOOTH LUNDVALL "Dear Chester"

It was easy to get a novelty single released by Columbia ... if you happened to be an executive there!

"Smooth Lundvall," aka Bruce Lundvall (Bucknell graduate, class of 1957), managed to push Columbia into issuing TWO novelty singles. One was a cover of "Winchester Cathedral" b/w "I'm Gonna Spoil You Baby" (billed as The New Happiness, vocal refrain by Smooth Lundvall) and the more disturbing coupling of "Dear Chester"
and "Ode to Larson E. Whipsnade" credited to Smooth Lundvall and The New Happiness.

Adopting a W.C. Fields cadence, but sounding more like Rudy Vallee, Lundvall attempted to be part of the "Fields cash-in" that included new books, pop posters, and the arrival of "Uncle Bill" (imitating the Great Man in both TV commercials and on a novelty album). Columbia issued four albums of W.C. Fields radio shows...and a few years later, 1976, "Smooth" Bruce Lundvall had worked his way up to become president of CBS Records.

Jazz fan Lundvall switched over to Elektra in 1982, boosting Elektra's new "Musician" label, and two years later, went to EMI, where he revived Blue Note and signed Norah Jones, which immediately let the world know that this aging executive still knew how to bring in talent.

Lundvall was once chairman of the RIAA, and also held high positions at other alphabet soup groups; Country Music Association (CMA) and National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS). He received a presidential award (whatever that is) from NARM (whoever they are...the National Association of Record Merchants, whose job apparently is to wave farewell every time a Tower, HMV or Virgin closes.)

"Dear Chester" references "Chester Fields," a mythical son W.C. loved to mention on radio just to annoy his sponsor, the rival cigarette company Lucky Strike. Lundvall recites a script that goes from copping familiar Fields jokes into inventing lesser ones...a distracting piano offering what is supposed to be some period flavor. If you've ever tasted a period, this is not a compliment.

Lundvall, now 73, is still the CEO over at Blue Note, and despite signing more acts, including Cassandra Wilson, and having certifiable hits with albums by Al Green and Wynton Marsalis, people want him to step aside for somebody younger. In a February 2009 article in the NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/07/arts/music/07blue.html) "Smooth" Bruce said "“I don’t want to sit around the house and mow the lawn. I don’t want to be a crossing guard for the Wyckoff, N.J., school system. I want to keep doing this.”
DEAR CHESTER

Sir Howard Morrison (1935-2009) How Great was his Art

If you were listening to New Zealand Top Ten radio in 1981, you remember something strange happening.
In a year when the #1 song was Olivia Newton-John's "Physical," Sheena Easton's "Morning Train," Blondie's "The Tide Is High," or John Lennon's "Woman," for a few weeks, the top spot was something completely different.

It wasn't rock at all. It was...

Howard Morrison singing "How Great Thou Art."

It proved that Howard was not just a major influence on NZ music, he was a Maori influence.

While the New Zealand #1 spot back then could belong to some diverse music (the ethnic ballad "Bridge" by Deane Waretini or the odd Island rhythm-disco "Say I Love You" from Renee Geyer), the success of a traditional and religious song was remarkable...

....although the novelty twist was that Howard didn't sing all of it in English.

Morrison, part Maori, part Scots/Irish, first gained attention back in 1956 with the Howard Morrison Quartet, formed when he was just 21. That group continued in the 60's. Morrison continued to win fans through the 70's as a solo singer, peaking with his 1981 hit rendition of "How Great Thou Art."

Just how great was his art? In 1990 he was knighted. He grew frail but his legend grew strong. Asked what his legacy was, he simply replied, "Let the people decide."
Prime Minister John Key issued the following statement: "Sir Howard was a New Zealand success story. From humble beginnings he became an international success, first with the Howard Morrison Quartet, and then in an illustrious solo career. But more than that, Sir Howard was one of New Zealand's best loved entertainers, his appeal spanning every age group. I pay tribute to a real gentleman...Sir Howard Morrison will be greatly missed."

Sir Howard Morrison, O.B.E. died on September 24th. He's survived by his wife Rangiwhata, and three children.
HOW GREAT THOU ART, Sir Howard Morrison

ROSH HASHANAH: "Tangled Up in Blue" BOB DYLAN

Today (September 19th) is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

A New Year implies regeneration, and Bob's noted for revitalizing his old songs when he revisits them. Bob's newest version of "Tangled Up in Blue" (this soundboard version is from a July 2009 show) features a sneaky blues that does a chromatic strut up and down the scale. It turns a formerly bitter folk tune into some kinda jitterbug rag. He's also rhyming "Tropicana" with "Atlanta" where we once heard "Topless place" and "Side of her face."

Those thinking Bob's voice is a bit shot will not find that much evidence here; he sings this one with sly enthusiasm and less of a morbid croak. Bob will be releasing a holiday album shortly...of Christmas songs. Which makes about as much sense as putting tinsel on your tegelach. But Bob has always had a unique vision that, over time, is usually proven to be wise and/or profound. So a cheerful Muppet growl of "Here Comes Santa Claus" from the former Mr. Zimmerman, could just be the surprise hit of the season. If it isn't, he may have something to atone for next Yom Kippur.
TANGLED UP IN BLUE 2009 VERSION

The Whiskeyhill Singers Live '62

Dave Guard had left The Kingston Trio (replaced by John Stewart) to forge new trails in folk music. The trail got muddied. The name of his new group suggested that he was going to booze it up and sing numbers even stupider than "Tijuana Jail." The group's cover of "Railroad Bill" suggests as much

Most of the other tracks on their ill-fated album veer wildly from irritating unauthentic ethnic tripe ("Salomila") to the morbid ("Plane Wreck at Los Gatos") to nitwit novelty ("We're the World's Last Authentic Playboys") to the lone highlight, Big Judy Henske's solo on the traditional blues, "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out."

There were high hopes for the group. They were given a strong build-up and were featured in Life Magazine (photo above, lightly colorized, referencing "Railroad Bill.") Aside from that song, nothing was too funny and Judy fled the group while they were recording material for a second album (which was never released).

She turned up on Elektra with a first album recorded live and brimming with the eclectic tastes, wild humor, and bold musicianship that somehow had not come together for "The Whiskeyhill Singers."

Performing live, you can hear that they could put the hoot into hootenanny, and if nothing else you'll get a sense of their ebullience as they roar through the ridiculous ("Railroad Bill") and the overripe ("Salomila") with a little something extra in between.
WHISKEYHILL SINGERS LIVE IN 1962