Tom Chrapkiewicz,  former engineer for ADM Technology (Audio Designs and Mfg) sent us some information on this extremely sophisticated console that they designed in 1981 for Glen Glenn Sound.

Tom tells us, ‘above is a scan of a sales photo/document for one of the Consoles we made at ADM circa 1981 for Glen Glenn Sound (later Todd AO) Hollywood.  The application was for Dialogue, Effects and Music production for film.  Countless films in the mid to late 1980s were done on these consoles. This is an early automated, digitally controlled analog audio console. The mixing control was via multiple 6502 microprocessors – one per each of the 65 inputs.  These multiple microprocessors were networked together to a (I believe 8080/CP/M system.  The analog path was controlled via dbx2001 VCA within each input strip.’

Tom can be reached at tchrapkiewicz (at) gmail (dot) com

For earlier ADM posts on PS dot com, click here… and here.

1. The Equals “Police On My Back” from the comp The Best Of The Equals, EMI/Stateside (year unknown; presumed to be 1968).

2. John Entwhistle “I Wonder” from the LP Whistle Rymes, Track/Decca/MCA 1972.

3. Lee Clayton “Carnival Balloon” from the S/T 1973 MCA LP.  (no link available)

4. Sopwith Camel “Fazon” from the LP The Miraculous Hump Returns From The Moon, Reprise 1972.

5. Danny Cox “Hey Jude” from the LP Birth Announcement, Forward/Together Records, 1969. (no link available)

6. The Electric Prunes “I Happen To Love You” from the LP Underground, Reprise 1967.

7. Suzi Quatro “Michael” from the LP Your Mama Won’t Like Me, Arista 1975.

8. John Ussery “Must Have Been The Season” from his self-titles LP, Phonogram 1973.

9. David Wiffen “Climb The Stairs” from the LP Coast To Coast Fever, Liberty 1973. (no link available)

10. Earth Opera “Time And Again” from the s/t LP, Elektra 1968.

11. Longdancer “Too Much Too Soon” from the LP If It Was So Simple, Rocket/MCA 1973.

12. John Entwhistle “My Wife” from the LP Rigor Mortis Sets In, Track/MCA 1973.

13. 999 “Bongos On The Nile” from the LP Concrete, Albion/Polygram 1981. (no link available)

14. Brownsville Station “Rumble” from the comp Non-Dairy Creamer, Warner Bros Records 1971.

15. Black Pearl “Mr. Soul Satisfaction” from the s/t LP, Atlantic 1969.

16. Rare Bird “What Do You Want To Know” from the LP As Your Mind Flies By, ABC 1970. (no link available)

17. Stealers Wheel “Right or Wrong” from the LP Right Or Wrong, A&M 1975.

18. Redeye “Collections of Yesterday And Now” from the s/t LP, Pentagram/Bravo/Viva 1971.

For track notes + more of the greatest album art of all time, click the link below to READ ON…

1. The Equals “Police On My Back” from the comp The Best Of The Equals, EMI/Stateside (year unknown; presumed to be 1968).  If you ever get to be one of the first couple people to dig thru a just-unearthed collection of 75,000 records, you might find some Isreali pressings of Equals records.  Or you might not.  Oh yeah, and The Clash did a much -less impressive version of this song, and singer Eddy Grant finally had a hit many many years later with ‘Electric Avenue.’

2. John Entwhistle “I Wonder” from the LP Whistle Rymes, Track/Decca/MCA 1972.  Another fkkn insane and singular brass riff from JE.

3. Lee Clayton “Carnival Balloon” from the S/T 1973 MCA LP.  After I went down the Lee Clayton youtube whirlpool, I hadda get this disc…  it wasn’t cheap.  And it’s worth it.  Not really 70’s country music at all, more like way-ahead-of-its-time country music.  Great straightforward but smart tunes.  Check out the subtle calliope-esque bridge inst figure.  A great writer.

4. Sopwith Camel “Fazon” from the LP The Miraculous Hump Returns From The Moon, Reprise 1972.  I gotta give credit, it was the Dangerous Minds blog that made me pay attention to this disc.  But once I put it on…  do you ever hear a track for the first time, a track so obscure that there is really no way you ever could have heard it before, and you knew it instantly…  like out of a dream.  The following cut is called “Coke, Suede, And Waterbeds,” btw, so yeah this all still reads correctly… This record is fairly pricey but worth tracking down.

5. Danny Cox “Hey Jude” from the LP Birth Announcement, Forward/Together Records, 1969.  goddamn listen to those drums!  Looks like Drummer PS also drummed for Rick Nelson?  I love this whole double LP. The biggest name on this thing is steel-man Red Rhodes.  False ending and then holy shit…  Hare Krishna apocalypse.  So so good.  Hell of a recording.  Richard Moore, man. Nice work.

6. The Electric Prunes “I Happen To Love You” from the LP Underground, Reprise 1967.  It was tough to pick a track from this LP.  The whole thing is so good, and this is really an incredible record to find these days…  so I went with a King/Goffin composition (!!!) that had earlier been recorded by The Myddle Class.  Carole King is one of my all-time idols, sheer genius.

7. Suzi Quatro “Michael” from the LP Your Mama Won’t Like Me, Arista 1975.  I dig Suzi.  Can’t say too much about this track, other than it captures her real hooky side…  kinda a bridge between the early rock stuff she did and the hits to come.  BTW, if yr ever unsure what to do with a chorus, cook us some ba-da-das or oh-whoa-ohs.  You can’t lose.

8. John Ussery “Must Have Been The Season” from his self-titles LP, Phonogram 1973.  Good druggy, boozey (lotsa phase-shifter) blues-rock disc helmed by Delaney Bramlett.  This is the most mellow cut, entry 16779 in the ‘let’s re-write that Blind Faith song’ sweepstakes.  But still good, ya know? Actually wait.. maybe Blind Faith just running Dear Prudence in reh that day?  Where do you draw the line?

9. David Wiffen “Climb The Stairs” from the LP Coast To Coast Fever, Liberty 1973.  Thanks to KA for intro’ing me to DW…  Wiffen is the king of the folk-bummers (well maybe Ted Lucas…) but wow I dig this dude.  This, his second LP, is an entire LP of dark road-songs.  Wiffen wrote one of the songs in the folk-rock canon, and had a pretty sad time of life… no one knows where he ended up.   Check out his Wiki entry and BUY THIS LP, it’s so incredible.  Everything that’s good about Fred Neil but with pop hooks.  Also, produced by a young Bruce Cockburn.

10. Earth Opera “Time And Again” from the s/t LP, Elektra 1968.  Excellent far-out pysch-folk along the lines of label-mate T. Buckley and Pearls Before Swine.  The band was co-fronted by a v v young Dave Grisman, who yup played mando on American Beauty and went on to the one of the most significant careers in American roots-music.

11. Longdancer “Too Much Too Soon” from the LP If It Was So Simple, Rocket/MCA 1973.  What if I told you that Dave Stewart (the dude stndng nxt to Annie Lennox) had been in an awesome Matthews-Southern-Comfort-esque UK folk-rock band many years before achieving fame?

12. John Entwhistle “My Wife” from the LP Rigor Mortis Sets In, Track/MCA 1973.  This is a great heavy pop song… and then that INST bridge good lord… a Kanye hit waiting to happen.

13. 999 “Bongos On The Nile” from the LP Concrete, Albion/Polygram 1981.  Fantastic “Green Onions” pastiche from the group that wrote one of my all-time fav old-school punkrock tracks “Homicide.”  If you ignore the recording quality, this is a song that could have been released anytime between 1965 and tomorrow.

14. Brownsville Station “Rumble” from the comp Non-Dairy Creamer, Warner Bros Records 1971.  WB had a whole series of double-LP comps that are pretty common; this single-disc promo comp has some weirder and hairer tracks than most of those.  This Link-Wray-Meets Zep thing is fucking insane.  I always imagined that Brownsville Station (they wrote ‘smoking in the boys room’) had it in ’em; took this disc to prove it to me.  Play the FKKN thing rite, indeed…

15. Black Pearl “Mr. Soul Satisfaction” from the s/t LP, Atlantic 1969.  This was another unlikely find…a pretty rare disc…  one of the few bands that did that dopers-do-James-Brown MC5 thing.  The whole record is good, but not easy to find.

16. Rare Bird “What Do You Want To Know” from the LP As Your Mind Flies By, ABC 1970.  UK rock/prog band noted for the absence of guitars on their first two discs.  Great song… the UK Mono single mix of this song is the way to go, but as an American, i’ll never be able to find it on wax… check it on youtube…

17. Stealers Wheel “Right or Wrong” from the LP Right Or Wrong.  I am listening to this so fkkn loud right now, … this was my happiest discovery of the beast few months.  Gerry Rafferty was a talented+tortured dude who gave the world one of the most timeless tracks in the brief history of CSRM (Commercially Saleable Recorded Music), and all his early Stealers Wheel discs are great.. this track, which closes the final SW disc, is a gem of pop perfection in every sense…  just wait til the T-Rex coda…  This track should be played on the radio 10 times every day around the world.

18. Redeye “Collections of Yesterday And Now” from the s/t LP, Pentagram/Bravo/Viva 1971.  Early Al Schmitt production (dude went on to win SEVEN grammys) which bore the hit “Games” (also great).  shit, this whole LP is great.  As the title indicates, this is some mellow doper music.  Recorded to 8-track!  Love the harmony in 3rds and the smokey Les-Paul-with-the-Tone-Rolled-off lead gtr.  The whole disc is groove-based and bass-driven like this. I can’t say enough good things about this record.

1. Endle St Cloud “Street Corner Preacher”

2. The Beacon Street Union “Mystic Mourning“

3. Street “If I Needed Someone”

4. Edwin Starr “My Sweet Lord”

5. David Porter “Didn’t Know Love Was So Good”

6. Cymande “Bird”

7. Mandrill “Afrikus Retrospectus”

8. Lonnie Liston Smith “In Search Of Truth”

9. Backstreet Crawler “It’s A Long Way Down To The Top”

10. Lee Clayton “I Ride Alone”

11.  The Devil’s Anvil “Karkadon”

12. Dr John “One Night Late”

13. Smokey John Bull “The Mighty Quinn”

14. Potliquor “Beyond The River Jordan”

15. Don Nix “Until Tomorrow”

16. Lucio Battisti “Il Fuoco”

For detailed track information and more of the best album-artwork of all time, click the link below to READ ON…

1. Endle St Cloud “Street Corner Preacher” from the LP Thank You Very Much, International Artists 1968.  I dunno what was in the water in Texas in the 60s… but this shit is nuts.  And then add Bubble Puppy, the Elevators, Fever Tree…  killer.  Truly psychedelic music.

2. The Beacon Street Union “Mystic Mourning” from the LP The Eyes Of The Beacon Street Union, MGM 1968.  Almost Can-like in its minimal drone, this is the most pysch cut on this LP.  Tom Wilson, one of my all-time favs, makes an appearance as well with a ‘recitation.’

3. Street “If I Needed Someone” Verve 196ty… I’m gonna just guess and say 8.  Sticking with the droney, psych-y theme…  here’s another obscure band from the 60s, this time with a Grace-Slick-esque vocal.

4. Edwin Starr “My Sweet Lord” from the LP Involved, Motown 1971.  ‘All Things Must Pass’ sure has its moments, many in fact, but i’ll take Starr’s version of this song over GH’s.  Fkkn ring-mod gtr lead?  Yes pls.  Space Gospel.

5. David Porter “Didn’t Know Love Was So Good” from the LP Sweat And Love, Enterprise/Stax 1973.  Legendary writer D Porter ‘s final Stax solo LP opens with this absolute mfkkr.   Oh the hits this dude wrote.  I find it surprising that this track was never sampled on a hip hop hit.  Or???

6. Cymande “Bird” from Second Time Round, Janus Record 1973.  Another killer minimal midnight soul track.  So lo fi and cool.  Let the bass do all the work.   Drums, three perc tracks, bass, and a gtr with the top rolled off.  Love it.

7. Mandrill “Afrikus Retrospectus” from Just Outside Of Town, Polydor 1973.   Great record all around, but this cut really captures a clean minimal aesthetic that has much more in common with 70s Euro TV and film music than any other midwest US funk that I’ve heard.  Also reminds me a bit of the great Bo Hansson.

8. Lonnie Liston Smith “In Search Of Truth” from the LP Astral Traveling, Flying Dutchman 1973.  I don’t listen to too much jazz these days but this wonderful track is really just a stones-thrown away from the psych and low-key minimal soul tracks that i dig.

9. Backstreet Crawler “It’s A Long Way Down To The Top” from the LP The Band Plays On, ATCO 1975.  If you like the FREE ballads, you will like this, no surprise…  this is Kossoff’s post-FREE group.  He died shortly after this was recorded.

10. Lee Clayton “I Ride Alone” from the LP “Naked Child” Capitol 1979. I love this song.  I found this track one day after some youtube skipping-from-one-forgotten-country-jam-to-another and I was blown away.  This track lives in its own non-genre.  It’s kinda mark-knofler esque, but also v v dylan, but then there’s this whole ZZ top hi-tech-redneck thing going on…  this song sounds like my ’86 Camaro Berlinetta smelled.  Oh BTW Clayton pretty much invented the category of ‘outlaw country’ in the early 70s.  The whole record is good btw.

11.  The Devil’s Anvil “Karkadon” from the LP Hard Rock From The Middle East, Columbia 1968.  I picked this up along with a buncha other rare circa-1968 Columbia rock LPS (many were promos) at an estate sale in Norwalk last year.  Weirder: there were only like 20 records and they were all pretty rare, and all from that same period.  I wonder if ‘the departed’ worked at Columbia for a minute in the late 60s?

12. Dr John “One Night Late” from the LP Anytime Anyplace, Scepter 1974.  Exactly what the title says.  A Lo-Fi, tossed-off jam that McCartney would have loved to have made himself.  Soul guys do surf.

13. Smokey John Bull “The Mighty Quinn” from the s/t  196* AVCO LP.  CT represent!  I dunno where I happened upon this promo copy of the (only?) Smokey John Bull record.  This Hartford-CT based band tracked at Fiesta Studios in Hartford in the late 60s by one Doug Clark.  Doug, if yr out there, drop us a line.

14. Potliquor “Beyond The River Jordan” from the LP Levee Blues, Janus 1970.  Great Spooky-Tooth-esque gospel blues from this forgotten 70’s southern-rock group.  what a sound.  Singer George had earlier been in The Basement Wall, who we will hear from on the next mixtape…

15. Don Nix “Until Tomorrow” from the LP Gone Too Long, Cream 1976.  OK so it’s three years later and former BarKeys Bari man Nix has moved across Memphis from Stax to Cream.  And he closes the LP with this Hazlewood / Serge-esque track.  WTF? You know it’s forreal when he breaks out the sax for the coda.

16. Lucio Battisti “Il Fuoco” from the LP (?) Umanamente Uomo: Il Sogno, Numero Uno 1972.  This is the second time that Battisti has made the cut here, and this is truly one of the best guitar-FX pieces that I have ever heard.  It still sounds fresh forty years on.   Great record all around.

Alright alright.  It is time.  Time for a new year new year month week new day new pile of records to search thru looking for that new way to combine gtr+bs+drms into some kinda pattern we nvr heard before new way to say i love u i hate u why r we here where did the time go time to make a new mixtape.  Had a few real good spells of crate digging last fall and here r the results.  All fresh recordings off of LP into pro tools via my Benz Micro Gold cartridge.  If you see me, ask me for a CD copy.  If not…  links are provided for most of the tracks.  When I finish these mixtapes, which are the results of hundreds of hours driving thousands of miles around the SW corner of this state, pawing thru hundreds of thousands of LPs at thrift stores yard sales estate sales flea markets ETC., i either feel like eh this is ok or damn this is alright.  Feeling the later re: this particular iteration.

tracklist

1. Francoise Hardy “Song Of Winter” from the LP alone, Warner/Reprise 6397

2. The Rivits “Look All You Like” from the LP ‘Multiplay,’ Antilles/Island 7072, 1980.

3. Lucio Battisti “Confusione” from the LP comp Il Meglio Di Lucio Battisti Vol. 1., Dischi Numero Uno ZNLN 33002.

4. John Baldry “It Ain’t Easy” version from the LP comp Hot Platters, Warner/Reprise 1971.

5. Judy Mayhan “Dream Goin By” from the LP Moments, ATCO SD 33-319, 1970

6. Mary McCaslin “Prarie In The Sky,” title track, Philo Records 1024, 1975.

7. Bonnie Koloc “Sunday Morning Movies” from the s/t LP, Ovation Records 1429, 1973.

8.  Jeanne C. Riley “He Made A Woman Outta Me” from the LP The Generation Gap, Plantation Records PLP 11

9. Frummox “There You Go” from the LP Here to There, PROBE/ABC CPLP4511

10. Spirit “Cold Wind” from the LP Clear, CBS/ODE Z1Z 44016

11. The Pentangle “Sweet Child” from the LP Comp The Warner/Reprise 1969 Songbook, Warner 331.

12. Humble Pie “Cold Lady” from the LP comp Lost And Found, A+M SP 3513,, orig. from the LP Town and Country, 1969

13. Ellis “El Doomo” from the LP Riding On The Crest Of A Slump, Epic KE 31945, 1972.

14. Randy Newman “Last Night I Had A Dream” Non-LP solo version from the LP comp Hot Platters, Warner/Reprise 1971.

15. It’s A Beautiful Day “Galileo”/”Do You Remember The Sun” from the LP Marrying Maiden, Columbia CS 1058.

16. Sir Douglas Quintet +2 “Whole Lotta Piece of Mind” from the LP (Honkey Blues), SMASH/Mercury STS 67108

17. The Soul Stirrers “Jesus Is The One” from the LP Glory Bound Train, GME/Crumco 0102 circa 1978.

18.  Billy Preston “That’s The Way God Planned It,” title track, Apple ST-3359, 1969.

19. Bo Carter “Cigaret Blues” from the LP Comp Blues Roots Mississippi, RBF 14. Originally recorded c. 1936.

Follow the link below for track notes and more of the best album-artwork of all time.

1. Francoise Hardy “Song Of Winter” from the LP alone, Warner/Reprise 6397.  One of my all-time favorite singers… i don’t think I have featured her here before, cos it’s pretty hard to find her records ‘organically’ IE., not in shops or eBay…  I think I have four of em now after 20 yrs of digging…  all of em are great…  PK was over the other day and this records was laying out…  “who IS that”? he asked…  yea she is pretty striking to look at, and it’s really more about her attitude than anything else really…  i think that Wes Anderson finally used her music in his last film; if yr into that sorta pensive vibe u can’t lose with FH.  A sad confidence.  Later on, my friend SC got me into the music of her long-time boyfriend Jac Dutronc, and wow those must have been some days.  This from her English-language Reprise LP from around ’71.  Dig the 70-s stoner rock Rh gtr arpeggio figure and the WTF cutoff ending?

2. The Rivits “Look All You Like” from the LP ‘Multiplay,’ Antilles/Island 7072, 1980.
So… a couple of times I have featured songs from this really obscure circa 70 UK country-psych LP by a ‘Bronco.’  It’s a great record and as with all of these things u gotta wonder wot happened to them?  Well Jess Roden of Bronco went on to release quite a bit more music, none of which ever connected with a big audience, and one of those effort was this 1980 LP which caught my eye with its cut-n-paste ‘look-at-all-the-shit-in-this-studio’ cover.  The album is strong throughout, but this cut, which was the (failed) single, if fucking killer. Like, hear ten seconds of it and forget what yr doing killer. And just so, so ahead of its time.   Roden, if ur still out there, drop us a line…

3. Lucio Battisti “Confusione” from the LP comp Il Meglio Di Lucio Battisti Vol. 1., Dischi Numero Uno ZNLN 33002.  I’ve had Lucio on here before…  I can’t recall where I found this mid-seventies comp… I can’t even tell you when this track was recorded…  but this thing floored me… such a great sound even before the epic moog solo comes in.  Everything is just so fukkin TIGHT… like a band of whips.  Is there more Italian rock like this out there?  Plus he looks like my lost-lost brother so i am a lil partial there…

4. John Baldry “It Ain’t Easy”  from the LP comp Hot Platters, Warner/Reprise 1971.  Everyone knows this SONG cos Bowie covered it…  I actually ever featured the original version by the original writer on a mixtape some years ago..  but here is yet another version which might, might be even better.  I had never heard of John Baldry before I listened to this ole WB comp, but…  turns out… he had been a band in the early 60s with a coupla musicians named Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts.  Oh yeah and also the two producers on this record are Elton John and Rod Stewart.  ??????      Jesus life is long ain’t it?

5. Judy Mayhan “Dream Goin By” from the LP Moments, ATCO SD 33-319, 1970.  (no link avail on youtube).   So… this ain’t even this best track on this LP (which features some great players including Duane Allman), but a friend of mine beat me to ‘Begin Again’ on a recent mix I was given..  NEways no sweat cos ‘Dream Goin By’ is one sample-import away from becoming the basis of a 21st century hip hop juggernaut.   Such a huge+bad fucking hook.  Dudes, pick it up and sample it so that I can hear it on the FM radio with some other vocalist’s voice on top.  I mean actually.  Please.

6. Mary McCaslin “Prarie In The Sky,” title track, Philo Records 1024, 1975.  Beautiful Vermont country-rock.  French horn plus ac gtr covered in Phase-Shift?  u know me.  Come on.  Rest of the LP is pretty Eh.

7. Bonnie Koloc “Sunday Morning Movies” from the s/t LP, Ovation Records 1429, 1973. I’ve featured Koloc here before.  This is a monster hook and a great vocal performance.  Somebody put this thing in a film please.  Great recording.

8.  Jeanne C. Riley “He Made A Woman Outta Me” from the LP The Generation Gap, Plantation Records PLP 11. Country Funk!  Ignoring even her really ready-to-go vibe on the sleeve, this is so so sexually over the top that Katy Perry couldn’t cover it.  When I first picked up this LP by the singer of that famous-yet-awful “PTA” song, Em was working across the room and remarked, “is this a rape song”?  No, just a 60s song…  But my lord that Rh section…  so so badass.

9. Frummox “There You Go” from the LP Here to There, PROBE/ABC CPLP4511.  One of the best country-psych album images I have ever seen… dudes are literally fading into the desert mountains…  like the last cut, both so country and funky as hell…

10. Spirit “Cold Wind” from the LP Clear, CBS/ODE Z1Z 44016.  Keepin with the winter theme here…  this is a band with a very mixed reputation, but they deserve a close look…  some really interesting and progressive bits…

11. The Pentangle “Sweet Child” from the LP Comp The Warner/Reprise 1969 Songbook, Warner 331.  Bert Jansch is one of the coolest singers of all time.  And that drummer?  good lord.

12. Humble Pie “Cold Lady” from the LP comp Lost And Found, A+M SP 3513,, orig. from the LP Town and Country, 1969.  I can’t really endorse the later Humble Pie LPs, but the first two are excellent.  Pretty sure that the keys in the intro a Hohner Pianet, not a Wurly 200…  i struggle with one of em on a reg basis so i wonder… how do i make mine sound like that?

13. Ellis “El Doomo” from the LP Riding On The Crest Of A Slump, Epic KE 31945, 1972.  Roger Daltrey produced this LP and it’s pretty good.  This track is amazing…  that gtr playing…  this is the kinda echo-y, pyschy, bummer kinda rock that seems so easy and formulaic until you actually try to do it…  really hits a certain spot.

14. Randy Newman “Last Night I Had A Dream” Non-LP solo version from the LP comp Hot Platters, Warner/Reprise 1971.  (here’s a link to a very similar later-period recording of this jam).  Ok so i have heard this LP version of this many times, and like most Randy Newman songs, it’s ruined by the generic LA-sesh-guy arrangement slathered on top of an incredibly special song.  Umm fellas, yr supposed to save that shit for awful songs sung by awful pop singers where yr ‘tasteful’ ‘chops’ are the only thing that can redeem it…  when it’s Randy Newman singing one of his best songs ever, ya can’t just chug along like that….  so yeah the solo piano version works better IMHO.  Much much better.  In my estimation, this song is about a dream in which a man realizes the animal depths of his partner’s sexuality, a dimension that had had never been consciously aware of in his waking hours.  Randy Newman is a huge huge personal inspiration to me.  Very few writers can marry a lyric to a melody the way that he can.  One of the few musicians who goes beyond the (poetry+music) sandwich that comprises most pop+rock and really reaches a higher level of signification via an extremely careful synthesis of verbal and musical motifs.    BTW, just found this AMAZING earlier studio version which completely slays///released only as a promo single.  Damn.

15. It’s A Beautiful Day “Galileo”/”Do You Remember The Sun” from the LP Marrying Maiden, Columbia CS 1058.  The best thing that I have ever heard from this band.  Their most psych moment.  Very Pearls-before-Swine.

16. Sir Douglas Quintet +2 “Whole Lotta Piece of Mind” from the LP (Honkey Blues), SMASH/Mercury STS 67108.  (no link available).  Great band which I have featured here before… thanks to my friend RA, who tired of his decades-old collection of some of the greatest pysch records of all-time, I have most of the output of this group…  but I did not have this one.  Some classic, classic stoner shit…  so so weird.  I think Traffic must have heard this later on, it sounds a lot like their early 70s output.

17. The Soul Stirrers “Jesus Is The One” from the LP Glory Bound Train, GME/Crumco 0102 circa 1978.  Gospel artists kept it real in the 70s, resisting disco stylings and just making this great 60s soul grooves even tighter.   It’s tough getting thru a whole LP of this stuff but when it works, nothing’s better.

18.  Billy Preston “That’s The Way God Planned It,” title track, Apple ST-3359, 1969.   I’ve bought every Billy Preston LP that I have ever come across and I gotta say this is the first track i’ve felt inspired to compile.  Oh might have been a result of the fact that the lineup on this LP is apparently “Billy Preston on vocals and keyboards, Keith Richards on bass, Eric Clapton on lead guitar, Ginger Baker on Drums, and George Harrison on rhythm guitar.”  WTF.   Anyhow, Spun this live the other night and it seemed to work… NEone else got any good BP recommends? Maybe worth another look?

19. Bo Carter “Cigaret Blues” from the LP Comp Blues Roots Mississippi, RBF 14. Originally recorded c. 1936.   Man I love me some Bo Carter.  I featured his “All Around Man” on a previous mix and this track is just as good.  This recording is nearly a HUNDRED YEARS OLD for fukks sake.  How many more years of commercially-released pop recordings are there gonna be boys? What’s next when the bottom’s totally dropped out?

1. ‘Between Today And Yesterday’ Alan Price.  From the LP “Between Today And Yesterday,” Warner Brothers 1974.

2. ‘Coming into Los Angeles’ Arlo Guthrie.  From the Warner/Reprise compilation LP “The Big Ball” 1970.

3. ‘Let It Rain’ Eric Clapton. From S/T LP, RSO 1970.

4. ‘You’ve Got To Do It All Yourself’ Jackie Lomax.  From the LP ‘Three,’ Warner Brothers 1972.

5. ‘Helpless’ Buffy Saint Marie.  From “She Used To Want To Be A Ballerina,” Vanguard 1971.

6. ‘I’ll Tell You No Lie’ Nicky James.  From the S/T LP, Threshold/London 1972.

7. ‘You Can Close Your Eyes’ Kate Taylor. From “Sister Kate,” Cotillion 1971.

8. ‘One Sure Thing’ Bonnie Koloc. From “After All This Time,” Ovation INC 1971.

9. ‘Take A Look Around’ The Temptations. Gordy/Motown 7″ Single 1971.

10. ‘The Longer We Stay Together’ Al Wilson. From “La La Peace Song,” Rocky Road/BELL 1974.

11. ‘Always Together’ Jackie DeShannon.  Imperial 7″ single 1969.

12. ‘Rock Your Baby’ George McCrae. T.K. Records 7″ Single, 1974.

13. ‘I Can’t Get Over You’ The Dramatics. ABC Records 7″ Single 1976.

14. ‘When Something Is Wrong With My Baby’ Sam & Dave.  Stax 7″ single 1967.

15. ‘A Raga Called Pat’ John Fahey.  From the LP “The Voice Of The Turtle,” Takoma 1968.

16. ‘Elegia De Che Guevera’ Quilapayun. From S/T LP, Monitor Records c. 1970.

17. ‘Darling Be Home Soon’ The Loving Spoonful.   Kama Sutra 7″ single.  From the Motion Picture “You’re a Big Boy Now” 1967.

18. ‘Diamond Meadows’ T-Rex. From S/T LP, Reprise 1971.

19. ‘Rock And Roll Love Letter’ Tim Moore.  From “Behind The Eyes,” Elektra 1975.

20. ‘Another Day Like Heaven’ The Flame.  S/T LP, Fallout Re-issue.  Originally on Brother Records 1970.

For detailed track notes, links, and more of the best album art of all time, click the link below…

1. ‘Between Today And Yesterday’ Alan Price.  From the LP “Between Today And Yesterday,” Warner Brothers 1974.   Beautiful Bill Fay-esque track from a great writer and singer, formerly organist for The Animals.  I can’t say for sure, but the chorus of this track sounds like it may be one of the only-known appearances of the PianoMate on a record…

2. ‘Coming into Los Angeles’ Arlo Guthrie.  From the Warner/Reprise compilation LP “The Big Ball” 1970.  Guthrie apparently performed this track at Woodstock, but it failed to make an appearance on the record.  True?  LMK.  A surprising counter-culture anthem from a singer who I had never considered to be especially rebellious.

3. ‘Let It Rain’ Eric Clapton. From S/T LP, RSO 1970. Yea that’s right.  Clapton. Never thought it would happen…  but he made it on.  Pretty much sounds like one of the more upbeat selections on ‘All Things Must Pass’ so it’s hard not to like.

4. ‘You’ve Got To Do It All Yourself’ Jackie Lomax.  From the LP ‘Three,’ Warner Brothers 1972 (No link available).  I’ve featured Lomax before on this blog.  Great singer, great writer, all of his records that I’ve heard are good.  This one was produced by the great John Simon, he of ‘the Band’ fame.

5. ‘Helpless’ Buffy Saint Marie.  From “She Used To Want To Be A Ballerina,” Vanguard 1971.  This is Buffy’s most ‘rock’ record, featuring Neil Young and Crazy Horse as well as Jesse Ed Davis, Ry Cooder, and Merry Clayton.  Whoa.  This cut is great, but so are all the rest.  Worth seeking out.

6. ‘I’ll Tell You No Lie’ Nicky James.  From the S/T LP, Threshold/London 1972 (No link available).  James came close to the big time several times, but never quite connected.  This is a fantastic album in the vein of Spooky Tooth.  Highly recommended.

7. ‘You Can Close Your Eyes’ Kate Taylor. From “Sister Kate,” Cotillion 1971.  James Taylor’s sister, here doing one of his songs.  Fantastic piano playing by Carole King.

8. ‘One Sure Thing’ Bonnie Koloc. From “After All This Time,” Ovation INC 1971. Really powerful track with some great heavy guitar playing by the legendary Phil Upchurch (!) of Chess Records fame.  The dual guitars and dual vox in the solo section make me think that this was probably arranged especially for Quad, as the sticker on the dust jacket suggests…

9. ‘Take A Look Around’ The Temptations. Gordy/Motown 7″ Single 1971.  Good social-consciousness jam from their later period.  Great guitar sound.

10. ‘The Longer We Stay Together’ Al Wilson. From “La La Peace Song,” Rocky Road/BELL 1974 (No link available).  Great ‘adult-themed’ ballad.

11. ‘Always Together’ Jackie DeShannon.  Imperial 7″ single 1969 (Bizarrely, no link available…) DeShannon was a huge pop star.  She was also a great songwriter and she dated both Jimmy Page and Bryan McLean of LOVE.  This is just such a great soulful ballad, reminds me of Dusty at her best.

12. ‘Rock Your Baby’ George McCrae. T.K. Records 7″ Single, 1974. McCrae had two killer singles – the other is ‘I get lifted.’   “Rock Yr Baby’ features a great primitive beatbox-plus-live kit groove that just never, ever gets old.

13. ‘I Can’t Get Over You’ The Dramatics. ABC Records 7″ Single 1976.  Great slo soul jam with some crazy echo’d-out elec guitar.

14. ‘When Something Is Wrong With My Baby’ Sam & Dave.  Stax 7″ single 1967.  The great S+D at their best.

15. ‘A Raga Called Pat’ John Fahey.  From the LP “The Voice Of The Turtle,” Takoma 1968.  I couldn’t find an exact link, but this track is pretty close.  I couldn’t possibly add anything to the huge body of words that have been written about Fahey, but suffice to say that yea his early shit really is that fukkin good.  This is a strange, very eclectic record of his…  thanks to DS for letting me take it off his hands, I don’t think my chances of ever finding it at another yard sale were very good…  and that wasn’t yr average yard sale.

16. ‘Elegia De Che Guevera’ Quilapayun. From S/T LP, Monitor Records c. 1970.  Their name means ‘Men With Beards.’  Fantastic, right?  This record was a good find… as close to finding an original Victor Jara LP as I have ever come… and if you don’t know who Victor Jara is, get on it!  Talk about a revolutionary singer…  Jara lived and died it.

17. ‘Darling Be Home Soon’ The Loving Spoonful.   Kama Sutra 7″ single.  From the Motion Picture “You’re a Big Boy Now” 1967.  What a sweet, beautiful song this is.  I had heard a few other versions through the years, but I somehow missed this, the original version sung by writer John Sebastian, until I came across the 45.    Incredibly, this song was actually written on-assignment for a very early Coppola movie!  I had no idea he was making real studio pictures as early as 1966.  Crazy.

18. ‘Diamond Meadows’ T-Rex. From S/T LP, Reprise 1971.  This was a good find from a pretty bland estate sale (I also got some killer belts and nice casio synth…).  There ain’t a bad song on this record.  Overall the LP sounds a lot more like Tyrannosaurus Rex than T-Rex.   Worth seeking out.

19. ‘Rock And Roll Love Letter’ Tim Moore.  From “Behind The Eyes,” Elektra 1975.  BPT!  Not a great song, but shit this was recorded on Main Street, Bridgeport CT in 1975 at Paul Leka’s Connecticut Recorders…  so far, this is the last major-label record I have found that came out of that studio.  Anyone?

20. ‘Another Day Like Heaven’ The Flame.  S/T LP, Fallout Re-issue.  Originally on Brother Records 1970.  Good fkkng god this album is amazing.  After two different dudes, major music experts, life-long rockers, told me about this album in the span of two days… it just seemed like I couldn’t refuse.  Considering that the original LP appears to be completely unavailable, and it’s never even had a legitimate licensed re-issue, I violated one of my cardinal rules and dropped $20 on LP re-pressing # 125 (out of 1000) that Fallout pressed about a decade ago.  You can hear most of the songs on YouTube, and holy shit if you like Badfinger, Big Star, the Raspberries, Cheap Trick, or any other band that ever tried to out-do the Beatles, get ready… cos these South Africans do it better. Singer Blondie Chaplin went on to perform with the Beach Boys and Rolling Stones for decades.  Heavy shit…  wait ’til you hear what happens around the 3:00 mark.

Follow the link below for detailed track notes and more of the best album art of all time…

READ ON:::1. “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” The G-Stringers of Vassar College.  S/T, Syrinx.  Year Unknown.  As far as I can gather, the G-stringers were sort of a revolving-door student folk-group active at Vassar college in the late fifties thru at least 1968 judging by the songs on this very obscure private-press LP.  The whole album is of a very high-quality; I love ole gospel songs and it’s amazing how they have reharmonized the chord changes in this version, taking a very familiar melody and moving it into a spooky psych-y direction.

2. “Many Rivers to Cross” Harry Nilsson.  ‘Pussycats,’ RCA 1974.  This is the John Lennon-produced Nilsson LP that HN famously broke his throat on; people go on about what a shambling mess it is ETC ETC.  Don’t fall for it!  If you love the early 70s Lennon records, well, here’s yr chance to hear an early 70s Lennon record with Harry Nilsson singin lead vocals.  Well worth checking out.

3. “In My Valley” The Cornbread.  S/T, Mega 1971.  I was deep into a pile of a few thousand mostly Swedish folk and pop LPs in a dark Fairfield basement when I came across this unlikely gem.  The Cornbread were a country/rock/soul group from Arkansas c.1970 that AFAIK only made this one LP; they sound like a funkier Mason Proffit and have some pretty interesting issues-based songwriting themes.

4. “I’ll Hold Out My Hand” The Box Tops. ‘Dimensions,’ Bell 1969.  The Box Tops are well-known both for their own ultrahits as well as for giving us the incredible Alex Chilton, who would go on to create three of the 70s best LPs with Big Star.  This particular song, from their final LP, was written by the great Chip Taylor.  Taylor was responsible for a few of the most memorable moments in 60s pop songwriting: ‘Wild Thing,’ which might be the biggest garage-rock hit of all time, and ‘Angel of the Morning,’ which was highly controversial at the time owing to its one-night-stand theme.  Seems pretty quaint now.  He’s also Angelina Jolie’s uncle btw.  “I’ll hold out my hand” was also cut in memorable fashion by Smith.

5. “One Way” Armageddon Experience.  ‘Jesus Sound Explosion’ Strawberry Creek Productions 1972.  “J S E” was a straightforward faith-music album that was available free to all just by writing to the address on the back of the jacket.  “J S E” also featured Johnny Cash and m’ man Larry Norman.  I just can’t get over the crazy dichotomy between the verse and chorus of this super-gleeful paean to hell+heaven.  Also btw maybe it’s just me but this sounds an awful lot like it started as a re-write of The Remains ‘Don’t Look Back.’

6. “Obscured by Clouds” Pink Floyd.  ‘Obscured by Clouds,’ Harvest 1972.  I really don’t know how I managed to block out the fact that Pink Floyd released a record in between the epic ‘Meddle’ and the timeless ‘DSOTM,’ esp. considering that I worked on Waters’ DSOTM tour for oh what an entire year?  Well PF did in fact release ‘Obscured by Clouds’ in that short interim and it’s a pretty decent record.  This title track in particular.  Dig the excellent krautrock beat.  Hi hats?  Who needs em?

7. “Poison” Bert Jansch. ‘The 1969 Warner-Reprise Record Show’ (originally appeared on ‘Birthday Blues’), Warner-Reprise 1969.  Just an outstanding track from an amazing artist.  All of his music is worth checking out, right up to The Black Swan, which just might be the best new material recorded in the 2000s by a 60’s hero.  I want this drumming on every track that i produce from now on.

8. “I’m Crying” White Chocolate.  S/T, RCA 1973.  Bridgeport CT!  I can’t recall where I dug this up but oh man was i excited to learn that dudes were from BPT back-in-the-day.  Which puts them in the company of Elephant’s Memory and… anyone else?  Great blue-eyed soul/rock jam in the vein of Jackie Blue and Right Down The Line.  If any of you W/C dudes are still in the area, drop us a line…

9. “Something’s Gotten Hold Of My Heart” Terry Reid.  ‘Bang Bang You’re Terry Reid,’ Epic 1968.  I had this playing in the house when E. remarked, ‘What is this?  It sounds like Zeppelin.’  See, E., this is why yr my lady.  Cos you didn’t know this, but Terry Reid is forever (in)famous for being the singer who turned down the job of singing in The new New Yardbirds.  Good record all around.

10. “I Want You” The Beau Brummels.  ‘The Beau Brummels Volume 2,’ Autumn 1965.  This one was cut about three years earlier than I usually dig into but I had to include something from this great record.  The BBs are often compared to the Byrds, but my impression is that they actually sound more like REM: i.e., they sound like what a Byrd-inspired band might do after punkrock had already happened.

11. “Can’t Find Home” Two Friends. S/T, Natural Resource/Motown 1972.  One of the best records of all time, imho, is the private-press Ted Lucas LP that has played on a weekly basis in our house for the past three years or so.  Lucas is famous for being one of the Motown studio musicians who played on dozens of those essential soul/pop records; his LP is a folk-based singer/songwriter disc tho.  Invert this dynamic and you might get Two Friends, which is a straightforward folk-rock record that Motown released on it’s sub-label Natural Resources.  Great mellow LP.

12. “How Much Older Will We Grow” Mars Bonfire.  ‘Faster Than The Speed Of Life,’ Columbia 1969. This was always one of my Psych album images so u can imagine I was pretty thrilled to find this for a buck at the estate sale of somebody who I am pretty sure worked in the art department of Columbia Records in the 1960s.  Bonfire is mostly known for having written “Born To Be Wild,” but his own album is much darker and cooler than Steppenwolf, who certainly had their good moments too.  Bonfire creates a dark+tense vibe all around, similar to the great Common People.

13. “Morning Glory” Tim Buckley.  ‘Goodbye and Hello,’ Elektra 1967.  I can’t really add anything to the discussion as far as this guy… pretty much everything he did has its major devotees.  But wow I just love the idea of be visited by a hobo whilst in ‘my fleeting house.’  My fleeting house.

14. “Bitter Wind” Moby Grape.  ‘Wow,’ Columbia 1968.  Every Moby Grape record has its own special quality; this one impressed me by being less country and more explicitly psychedelic.  AMG tells us that this is due to the worldwide post-sg-peppers moment; I hear connections to Pearls Before Swine too.

15. “Bout a Spoonful” Nathan Beauregard.  ‘All Day Thumbsucker,’ Blue thumb Records 1970.  When you listen to this, the cool, comfortable performance on the vocal and elec gtr, remember this: NB was one hundred (1 0 0) years old when he cut this track.  Dude was born five years after the end of the Civil War.  This is the gothic blues.

16. “Leave it all Behind You,” Alan Ross.  ‘Ross,’ RSO 1974.  Pretty good mildly-progressive rock; Ross backed Entwhistle on 2 of his his solo records, which are pretty phenomenal, and did a ’74 US tour to promote his own record as the opener for E. Clapton.  Jesus imagine those days.  What really caught my attention in this record is the mix, the engineering.  Esp. the drum sound on the heavier cuts.  When I checked the credits it seems the man responsible was one Anton Matthews, who perhaps not-coincidentally was also behind the desk for Man’s Welsh Connection, another obscure 70s rock disc that I featured on this previous mix.   Matthews seems to have had somewhat sporadic album credits for the entire decade of the 70s and then the trail seems to end.  Does anyone know what became of Matthews?  His is not a name that I have ever heard mentioned in the endless discussions of great rock engineering but I feel like the dude had something special going on.  AM, if yr out there, drop us a line… the people need to know…

17. “Lucky Old Sun” Sounds of Willie Wilson.  ‘People From My Home Town.’ Self-released.  Year unknown.  Is “West-Indian-Timmy-Thomas-With-A-Gtr” a mini genre?  AFAICT, if you went to a certain seafood resto in Florida in the mid 70s, you could have seen this dude with’iz phase-shift pedal and ancient beatbox making things go real smooth.  And just like the extra-large serving of Chicken Cordon Bleu, you could take some of it home with you.

18. “Inside” Kenny Rankin.  ‘Inside,’ Little David Records 1975.  I never knew exactly what a Kenny Rankin was but I always had a suspicion that it was to be avoided; then JR included a track of his on her last mixtape and guess what it was good.  I picked up the next KR LP i came across and while it may be a year or two past the prime era, this unusual title track merits some listens; it actually reminds some of the better work of the great Milton Nascimento.

19. “Emmanuelle Theme (INST),” Pierre Bachelet & Herve Roy.  ‘Emmanuelle OST,’ Warner Brothers 1974.  Been really getting back into early 70s euro film music lately.  Alain Goraguer, François de Roubaix, Pierre Cavalli, Piero Umiliani…   the way that these composers jammed together American soul+funk breaks with weird euro folk-music harmony + unusual sounds made this shit a wellspring for hip hop producers in the 90’s, when samplers first became affordable and everyone was into sample-based tracks.  That trend in music subsided a long time ago (only to creep back, in indie rock this time around); but since I’ve gotten heavily involved in creating library music with some great collaborators, I’ve been diving back into this stuff.  “Emmanuelle” is a notorious film that had many shitty sequels, but the original did incredible business and also created a brief bubble in time wherein porno films were seen as trendy and not just trashy.  The soundtrack is kinda repetitive, but this cut in particular is my fav owing to that weird dissonant organ chord that floats in at the halfway mark and just haaaaaaaaaangs there for the rest of the track.  It shouldn’t work but it does, menacing and sensual at the same time.  Bold arranging.

20.  “Birds of Summer” Veronique Sanson.  S/T, Elektra 1973.  Sanson apparently had around twenty albums released in her career.  She was also married to Steven Stills and is the mother of C. Stills.  This s/t record is pretty good all around, but this, this closer, is just killer.  It’s also way to short.  Oh the mystery.

Stream the show in high quality at: http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/28950

Gene Clark: 1975
Country Joe And the Fish: She’s a Bird
David Crosby: what are their names
Moby Grape: I am not willing
The Dead Boys: ain’t it fun

Wizards from Kansas: high flying bird
John Entwhistle: You’re mine
Graham Nash: Better Days
Tommy James: nothing to hide

Smith: baby it’s you
Rod Stewart: Losing you
Dr John: Black Widow Spider
The Small Faces: Tin Soldier
Bob Seeger: Ramblin Gamblin Man
Tommy James; Christian of the world

Leon Russell: Stranger in a strange land
Captain Beefheart: happy love song
T Rex: the slider
Johnny Thunders: can’t put your arms around a memory
Cochise: back home

Nina Simone: to love somebody
Slade: Gudbuy T’Jane
Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose: treat her like a lady
Laura Lee: wedlock is a padlock

Patti Smith: free money
Cat Mother: The last thing that I do
Tranquility: where you are
Man: out of your head

Lake: on the run
Emmit Rhodes: ‘really wanted you’
Dwight Twilley: i’m on fire
Spooky Tooth: I am the walrus

The Kinks: Shangri La
T Rex: broken hearted blues
The Shocking Blue: california here I come
Genesis: back in N. Y.C.
Tommy Johnson: canned heat blues

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.

The culmination of the past 4 months of crate digging: Summer 2011 at Preservation Sound.  If you see me, ask me for a copy.  Full track list/links follow the pics.

Follow the link for track information…

1.            John Entwistle “Heaven and hell” from “Smash your head against the wall” Decca DL79183.  1971.  A great album all around.  Very dark sonics and dark subject matter.   JE was the bass player for THE WHO for most of his life.

2.             Man “Out of your head” from “The Welsh Connection” MCA 2190. 1976.  MAN have many records; this is the best one i’ve heard so far.  fantastic recording with a lot of quirky lines in the playing.

3.             Michael Stanley “Subterranean Homesick Blues” from “Michael Stanley” Tumbleweed Records TWS106. 1973.  (no link).  OK so the most crazy thing about this arrangement is the fact that MS took it from a different artist – one of my personal favorites, Terry Boylan.  MS does credit Terry on the sleeve, and I think even improves on it.  Terry’s abum “Alias Boona” is a lost classic.  Check it out if you can find it.

4.             Jeff Beck “Shapes of things” from “Truth EPIC BN-26413. 1968.  Unbelievable drumming on this cut.  Yet another classic Rod moment.

5.             Booker T and the MGs “Fuqawi” from ‘Melting Pot’ STAX Records STS 2035. 1971. (no link)  There are other cuts on this record that are even better, but my copy is slightly warped and this one played the best.  This is the best Booker T record; give it a listen and imagine how fantastic these cuts would be with a great singer and song over them.  By this point, BTMGs were not backing singers as a unit; this record was not even recorded at STAX.

6.             Kyle “I think I’m gonna rain” from “Times that try a man’s soul” Paramount Records PAS 6006. 1971.  (no link)  A good record all around.  Kinda Jim Ford/Elvis in Mepmhis vibe.  From the man who could-have-been-Billy-Joel, or so the story goes.  Kyle was apparently a member of THE LOST (classic 60s Boston garage band), although, I don’t see his name on their records.

7.             Gerry Rafferty “Right down the line” from ‘City to City’ United Artists UA-LA840-G.   1978.  A great track only slightly diminished by the fact that it will spend eternity living in the direct shadow of the preceding monolith ‘Baker Street.’

8.             Suzi Quatro “If you can’t give me love” from ‘If you knew Suzi’ RSO RS-1-3044.  1979.  <3 the Suzi.  This is a classic album.

9.             Mike Robbins “Some Cats” from “Long Time Comin’” AVI Records 6021. 1977. (No Link) Amazing.  A great example of the weirdness that results when you take a mediocre pop-rock-country song and layer it with way too many synth lines.  Bring em on, I say.

10.             Speedy Keen “Lesliana” from “Previous Convictions” MCA records MCA-331.  1973.  (no link)  Keen was the bandleader behind the Townsend-produced chestnut “Something In the Air.” This record is pretty mediocre, but this throwaway ending cut (named for the Leslie Rotating Speaker that is responsible for the beautiful wash of sound you hear) is a great piece of atmosphere.

11.             Jackie Lomax “Take My Word” from “Is This What You Want?” Apple SAPCOR 6.  1969. George Harrison produced this record while still in the Beatles; the lineup is predictably all-star.  Good disc all around.

12.             Ace “Know How It Feels” from “Five-a-Side” Anchor Records ANCL-2001.  1974.  (no link)  Anchor Records greatest success was AMERICA, which they had UK rights to.  This cut by ACE is one of the best blue-eyed soul ballads i’ve ever heard.  Right up there with the best of H+O.

13.             Nina Simone “When I was in my prime” from “Nina Simone” Upfront UPF 145. 1968. (originally appeared on “Live in Paris.”  Can’t say too much about this.  As epic as most of her output.

14.             Patti Smith “Free Money” from “Horses”  Sire 0698. 1975.  OK so I allllllllways knew that this album would one day get into my brain.  I resisted for decades but it finally happened last week.  I finally get it.  If you don’t dig this record, give it another chance.  and then again in 10 years, and then again…  it will be worth it.  Her ability to take the tropes and cliches of 60s blues/garage rock and turn them into a platform for something else entirely, something incredibly personal and expressive, is matched perhaps only by Beefheart.  He did a whole other thing with those bits and pieces but you catch my drift?

15.             The Seeds “Painted Doll” from ‘Future’ GNP 2038.  1967.  The kind of stoned doo-wop that I mistakenly thought only the Velvet Underground could really do right.  Great record all around.

16.             Norman Greenbaum “Alice Bodine” from ‘Spirit in the Sky’ Reprise 6365.  1969.  (no link)  Greenbaum’s ‘Spirit in the sky’ is maybe the most overplayed light rock hit of the Nixon era.  And it’s s0 absolutely brilliant and perfect that it does-not-even-matter.  Greenbaum never hit that same level again, but his other material at least shares the same warped sensibility.  Another great cut from this disc is ‘Marcy.’

17.             Randy VanWarmer “Just when I needed you most” from the 45rpm single.  OK yeah so this is pretty firmly in the genre that we all accept as waiting-room music, muzak, etc.  Mawkish sentiment paired to a sentimental arrangement…sure.  But then you learn that Dude’s father died unexpectedly when he was 10; and Dude wrote this only 8 years later…  gets a little more real huh.  Maybe not the predictable love song we thought we were hearing all these years.

18.             Shawn Phillips “Screamer for Phlyses” from ‘Contribution’ A&M SP 4241. 1970.   (no link)  Nothing to add here…

19.             John Lennon “Bring on the Lucie (Freda Peeple)” from ‘Mind Games’ Apple Records SW 3414. 197.  Not an obscure cut by any means; fantastic record all around.  Made sense given the whirlwind of very real revolutionary activity occurring in so much of the world right now.

20.             Kanter Slick Freidberg “Sketches of China” from “Baron Von Tollbooth….” Grunt 0598. 1973.  This is, in many ways, the last Jefferson Airplane record…before the Starship years…  and this is the last cut on that record…  huge huge amazing coda.  Grace Slick sounds better than ever.

1. “Ohio River, She’s So Deep And Wide” by Winifred Smith.  From ‘Folk Songs Of The South’ by Winifred Smith.  RCA Victor #61100

2. “It Ain’t Easy” by Ron Davies.  From “Friends” A&M SP 8021

3. “Broken Hearted Blues” by T-Rex.  From “Tanx” Reprise 0598

4. “Dear Mary” by The Steve Miller Band. From ‘Sailor’ /Capitol ST 2984

5. ”Jamie” by Hedge & Donna.  From ‘The New Spirit Of Capitol’ Capitol #SNP-6

6. “Hope” by Mason Proffit.  From “Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream” Ampex A-10138

7. “Reflections” by The Chambers Brothers. From ‘New Generation’ Columbia C 30032

8. “Bad Night at the Whiskey” by The Byrds.  From ‘Dr Byrds and Mr Hyde’ Columbia CS 9755

9. “Innervenus Eyes” by The Bob Seger System.  From ‘The New Spirit Of Capitol’ Capitol #SNP-6

10. “In Your Life” by Tower.  From ‘Collecting Peppermint Clouds’ Technicolor Dream Records T.D.R. 002 (Originally a Decca b-side)

11. “Baal” by Exuma.  From “Exuma II (Air)” Mercury SR 61314

12. “The Joys Of Life” by Karen Beth.  From “The Joys of Life” Decca DL 75148

13. “Atlantis” by Donovan.  From ‘Barabajagal’ Epic BN 26481

14. “Take My Home Country Roads” by Olivia Newton-John.  From ‘Heavy Hits’, Adam VIII LTD # A-8010

15. “I’m Losing You” by Dwight Twilley.  From “Sincerely” Shelter SRL-52001

16. “My Love” by Paul McCartney.  From the 7” single Apple #1861

17. “August Day” by Hall & Oates.  B-side to “I don’t want to lose you” RCA PB-11424

18. “I Go Crazy” by Paul Davis. From the 7” single Bang # B-733

19. “Only With You” by The Beach Boys. From ‘Holland’ /  Captiol MS 2118

Follow the link for more information…

I used a slight different transfer setup this time.  Same Benz Micro cartridge on the JVC direct-drive table, but this time I went into protools via an Apogee Mini-me A/D converter with mild limiting applied.

Here’s some thoughts on the tracks…

1. “Ohio River, She’s So Deep And Wide” by Winifred Smith.   This was an interesting find; record was sealed.  From approx. 1965.  From what I can gather from the liner notes, this seems to have been a vanity-pressing; a very expensive gift from a Nashville banking-executive to his wife.  There are so many odd and conflicting aesthetics at work here.  It opens with the feel of early Leonard Cohen, but the grown-mens choir dispenses with that.  Smith’s blackface-esque pronunciation of “I got da blues” really puts it into outer space.  Nothing diminishes from the overall beauty and sadness of the recording, though.  The sum effect is a David Lynch-esque oddness that I have never quite heard captured before.

2. “It Ain’t Easy” by Ron Davies.   Yup, the same song from “ziggy stardust.”  This is the original version by writer Ron Davies.  Bowie’s ain’t bad at all, but this original version is just so badass.

3. “Broken Hearted Blues” by T-Rex.   Somehow I missed ‘Tanx’ for many years, despite being an avid fan of all the earlier Bolan jams.    A great record; maybe Bolan’s last great record.  this is just one of many fantastic tracks on the disc.

4. “Dear Mary” by The Steve Miller Band.   Yes, you are right; the Steve Miller tracks that we grew up with on rock radio are bland at best, and often awful.  His early records are all pretty strong though.  Check out the gentle-rainfall soundeffect throughout this track.  The effectively-warbley vocal performance.  Reminds me of the best of The Clientele.

5. ”Jamie” by Hedge & Donna.  Starts a little hokey but what a great chorus.  Some melody. I really don’t know anything about this group.  Pulled from a label comp.

6. “Hope” by Mason Proffit.  From “Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream” Ampex A-10138.  I really dig Mason Proffit.  This is from their 2nd, and likely best record.  These guys had an interesting story.  They started their career as NUGGETS act ‘Sounds Unlimited’; like so many of that ilk, they transitioned to country-rock at the decade’s end (and then to Jesus-rock at the end of the 70s.).  Killer track.

7. “Reflections” by The Chambers Brothers. They did have other good tracks besides perennial licensing-juggernaut ‘Time Has Come Today’!   And this proves it.  From ‘Next Generation,’ which IMO is their best LP.

8. “Bad Night at the Whiskey” by The Byrds.   ‘Dr Byrds and Mr Hyde’ is a great Byrds LP. Dig the vocal pad in the verse.  Truly psych-country.

9. “Innervenus Eyes” by The Bob Seger System.  This originally appeared on NOAH, which I have yet to come across.  I largely included this track just for the Stooges-y piano figure in Ch1, which is one of the best arranging gimmicks of all time.

10. “In Your Life” by Tower.  Obscure Dutch band from the 60s.  I found this on a comp LP that I picked up in Paris maybe a decade ago.  The whole comp is excellent; i’d tell you to seek it out but my copy is hand-inked ‘372/500′ so there does not seem to be much hope of anybody finding this LP about.

11. “Baal” by Exuma.  E heard Exuma on Internet Radio one day and picked this up for me.  The rest of the album is a bit too world-music-y for my taste but goddamn this track is awesome.  what a voice.  Exuma is a fascinating character; check out his Allmusic.com entry.

12. “The Joys Of Life” by Karen Beth.  One of the best LPs I chanced upon all year.  The first track is godawful over-arranged schmaltz but the next 9 are all great weirdo-chick pysch-folk like this title track.  Reminds me of Nico, Edith Frost, and Bridget St John.  Highly recommended.

13. “Atlantis” by Donovan.  I am a Donovan fan.  I think I might have every LP released until the late 70s.  But I never, ever could make it though this track because… well…  the first 2 minutes are maybe the most embarrassing nonsense he ever recording.  BUT THEN.  good lord.  Just wait.  it is so so worth it.

14. “Take My Home Country Roads” by Olivia Newton-John.  I had not known that this disco-queen had a country-rock past but i am not surprised.  The opening 16 is so beautiful that I think I may have actually shed a tear when this came on one day in the shop.  Despite having heard many other versions of this song a million times before.  I pulled this from a comp; definitely gonna keep an eye out for the original LP.

15. “I’m Losing You” by Dwight Twilley.  This whole record is fantastic.  Buy it.

16. “My Love” by Paul McCartney.   Ahh the slick Paul. Dude can write ’em.

17. “August Day” by Hall & Oates.  Along the lines of the Bee Gee’s ‘Song Of Summer,’ a beat-less weirdo keyboard jam from some white soul dudes.  Very strange.

18. “I Go Crazy” by Paul Davis. For many years I felt that there was a companion track to Benny Mardones creep-out-anthem ‘Into The Night’ and now I know that it is called ”I Go Crazy” and it is by former (and future) country singer Paul Davis.

19. “Only With You” by The Beach Boys.  My father often extolled the virtues of this lesser-known Beach Boys album ‘Holland’ and I have to say that it took me a long time to get into it.  I think that the recent Legacy Dennis Wilson re-issues provided the pathway.  This is Dennis’ contribution to ‘Holland’ and it is the standout moment.