It’s that time again… another mixtape fresh off the deck at PS dot com. Twenty tracks transferred off LP records I’ve dug up the past four months from the basements, garages, attics and flea markets of Southern Connecticut. Transferred to digital via my trusty Apogee A/D convertor… by way of a seventies Sansui integrated and a Shure 91 cartridge. I found a pair of mint Shure 91s at an estate sale recently (the house had – no exaggeration- ten to twenty thousand records piled up in it) for a few bucks… my lord these carts sound so, so much better than the Benz Micro that I paid $240 for two years ago (I bought it on Stereophile‘s reco, and it ain’t bad…but…). Anyways. My new cartridge recommendation. Shure 91. Here’s the mixtape:
1. “We’ll have a real good time” Cat Mother. Last Chance Dance, Polydor.
2. “Happy Love Song” Captain Beefheart. Unconditionally Guaranteed, Mercury.
3. “Me About You” The Lovin’ Spoonful. Revelation: Revolution ’69, Kama Sutra
4. “Step Away” Don Cooper. What You Feel Is How You Grow, Roulette.
5. “I’ll Be There, I Still Care” Leroy Hutson. Love Oh Love, Curtom/Buddah.
6. “Jackie Blue” The Ozark Mountain Daredevils. It’ll Shine When It Shines, A&M.
7. “Looking For Jesus” Clive Sarstedt. S/T, RCA.
8. “Back In N.Y.C.” Genesis. The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, ATCO.
9. “Black Widow Spider” Dr. John. Babylon, ATCO.
10. “Give it up or turn it loose” Dick Hyman. The Age Of Electronicus, Command/ABC.
11. “Did You Know” Jake Holmes. The Above Ground Sound Of Jake Holmes. Tower/Capitol.
12. “Mary’s Garden” John Roman Jackson. S/T, OAK Records.
13. “Sittin In Circles” The Barry Goldberg Reunion. S/T, Buddah.
14. “Ode To A Tin Angel” Hearts and Flowers. Of Horses-Kids-And Forgotten Women, Capitol.
15. “Organ Blues” Tyrannosaurus Rex. A Beard Of Stars, Blue Thumb Records.
16. “All Around Man” Bo Carter. Blues Roots Mississippi, RBF 14. Originally released on Bluebird Records 1931.
17. “Cat’s Squirrel” Jethro Tull. This Was, Chrysalis.
18. “Dark Is The Night” Tommy James. My Head, My Bed & My Red Guitar, Roulette.
19. “Stallion” Kris Kristofferson. Who’s To Bless And Who’s To Blame. Monument.
20. “The Last Thing That I Do” Cat Mother. Last Chance Dance, Polydor.
Follow the link below for full track details, links to listen, and more of the best album images of all time…
Preservation Sound dot com Holiday 2011 mixtape
(any relation to actual holiday themes and/or music is purely coincidental)
What creates our ideas, our paradigms, ourselves? Something in our DNA? Or the people, places, things that we happen to experience? When I was a very small child I saw a long-haired rocker-type (back then they were still called hippies) in a custom van driving along route 6, not too far from the flea market where I have spent a few hundred sundays… decades years later I had my vague recollection of that van graphic tattooed on my left arm, so strong was the impression it apparently made on me. Once chance impression – not chosen, not selected – and an entire personal mythology comes into being. This is the magic, good or bad, of random experiences. They are de facto unprogrammed, uncurated, unsanctioned, and therefore have tremendous power to open unexpected channels.
There is certainly something to be said for seeking out coveted rare records, unusual albums that can deliver a unique musical or sonic message… But in this age where you can find virtually anything that you are looking for online, instantly… if you know what yr looking for, you can essentially hear it instantly for free. This makes the physical LP record is even more of a fetish item, rather than a practical one, than it was even in the tape or CD era. But: what has not, cannot, be diminished by any amount of online content: discovering things that yr not looking for. The luck of the draw-the connection to the past of your own community- the opportunity for totally uncurated discovery – this is what crate digging is all about.
1. “We’ll have a real good time” Cat Mother. Last Chance Dance, Polydor PD 5042, 1973. The final Cat Mother album, and IMO the best. Cat Mother And The All Night Newsboys are most known for the fact that Jimi Hendrix produced their first LP. Along the way they left NY, moved to the California countryside, and settled down to making more roots-based music. A great solo piano jam in the Newman and Russel tradition.
2. “Happy Love Song” Captain Beefheart. Unconditionally Guaranteed, Mercury SRM-1-709. This LP is one of the least regarded in the Van Vliet catalog, but damn it’s not bad. This track is pretty spectacular… walks that impossible line between irony and sincerity that only Beefheart can. Sounds like Van Morrision on steroids. In a good way.
3. “Me About You” The Lovin’ Spoonful. Revelation: Revolution ’69, Kama Sutra KLPS-8073, 1968. From the record that they made after John Sebastian left the group. This song was apparently a hit for the Turtles? But I knew it best from this version by Gandalf, which is pretty righteous too.
4. “Step Away” Don Cooper. What You Feel Is How You Grow, Roulette SR 3009, 1972. (No link available). From Don Cooper’s 4th and last record on Roulette. I’ve been working with Cooper on a few things at Gold Coast Recorders lately and I asked him once about the fellow (K. Shepherd) who wrote this fantastic song. His answer, which came in the form of a story, was one of the most memorable I’ve heard in a long time. I hope he turns that story into a song someday.
5. “I’ll Be There, I Still Care” Leroy Hutson. Love Oh Love, Curtom/Buddah 8017, 1973. (no link available) Beautiful east-coast sweet soul track. I’d never heard of Hutson before; turns out he assumed leadership of The Impressions from Mayfield, and had also been Donny Hathaway’s roomate for three years at Howard U (!!!)… so shows ya how much I know…
6. “Jackie Blue” The Ozark Mountain Daredevils. It’ll Shine When It Shines, A&M SP-3654, 1974. Eagles meets Hall And Oates. Pure (AM) gold.
7. “Looking For Jesus” Clive Sarstedt. S/T, RCA LSP-4375 1970. (No link available). Great track from a great, dark record. Sarstedt had a UK hit a few years later as Robin Sarstedt, but in a much different disco pop style.
8. “Back In N.Y.C.” Genesis. The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, ATCO SD 2-401, 1974. I always heard that early Genesis was genius, that this was the record to get, etc… and yeah it’s true. Maybe the best 7/8 rock song ever? This track is so, so ahead of its time.
9. “Black Widow Spider” Dr. John. Babylon, ATCO SD 33-270, 1968. Allmusic gives his first record a five, and this, his second, a Two; I gotta hear that first one then, cos ‘Babylon’ is great. So so heavy, wow Dr John, I had no idea.
10. “Give it up or turn it loose” Dick Hyman. The Age Of Electronicus, Command/ABC 946-S, 1969. The rest of this album is pretty disappointing -basically elevator music with one or two Moog tracks added as an afterthought – but Hyman’s James Brown cover is pretty awesomely weird.
11. “Did You Know” Jake Holmes. The Above Ground Sound Of Jake Holmes. Tower/Capitol ST 5079. I was lucky to stumble upon this record… it’s pretty uncommon and every track is great. It’s like a male version of the first Nico record. This album commands a very high price because there’s a track on it called ‘Dazed and Confused,’ which sound an awful lot like… no, actually, it IS… Zeppelin’s ‘Dazed and Confused.’ Well, the Holmes record came out well before the Zep record. Love/hate LZ.
12. “Mary’s Garden” John Roman Jackson. S/T, OAK Records OR-2001. Totally obscure. Private press? the ‘2001’ catalog number makes me think it might be… recorded at Gold Star, which was a major studio, so that makes me think prolly not… good album if you can find it.
13. “Sittin In Circles” The Barry Goldberg Reunion. S/T, Buddah BDS 5012, 1968. I was not expecting to like this record – i was prepared for a buncha gutless white Chicago ‘blues.’ And then this comes on, sounding damn near as huge, awesome, and hooky as John Cale’s ‘Big White Clouds,‘ which should basically be it’s own subgenre of lite-rock music.
14. “Ode To A Tin Angel” Hearts and Flowers. Of Horses-Kids-And Forgotten Women, Capitol ST 2868, 1968. Another expensive collector-y record that I was awful lucky to dig up. It’s reputation rests largely on this single track, which sounds nothing like the rest of the byrds-y album. Best non-ringo ringo drum sound ever.
15. “Organ Blues” Tyrannosaurus Rex. A Beard Of Stars, Blue Thumb Records BTS-8818. A perfect track on a perfect record. listen to the tabla move around sloOoOoOoOowly in the stereo field.
16. “All Around Man” Bo Carter. Blues Roots Mississippi, RBF 14. Originally released on Bluebird Records 1931. Carter’s music is amazing. So, so dirty. hilarious AND tough at the same time.
17. “Cat’s Squirrel” Jethro Tull. This Was, Chrysalis CHR 1041, 1968. I usually don’t go for this sorta british blues rock, but the fact that there’s only one chord makes it kinda OK. Reminds me of the first Peter Green solo record, which is one of my fav instrumental rock LPs…
18. “Dark Is The Night” Tommy James. My Head, My Bed & My Red Guitar, Roulette SR-3007, 1971. This is a fantastic record. The single “Nothing to hide” is maybe? the greatest lost-classic in James’ catalog. James actually produced another recording of “Dark is the night” for another band around this same time… but I can’t recall who… their version is ever better IMO…
19. “Stallion” Kris Kristofferson. Who’s To Bless And Who’s To Blame. Monument PZ 33379, 1975. It can be hard in the studio sometimes when vocalists just can’t stay on pitch. KK somehow makes it work every time. I need to really study this shit and figure out why. I mean, half the goddamn notes are off, and in a SLICK recording nonetheless, and it still totally works. Which is way, way more impressive than actually singing the fukker on-pitch. I’m pretty sure this is a song about his dick.
20. “The Last Thing That I Do” Cat Mother. Last Chance Dance, Polydor PD 5042, 1973. Alright so i haven’t put two tracks from the same LP on a mixtape since oh 2007, but like I said, this Cat Mother LP is really good.