Maybe my favorite Christmas record

I don't know anything about this record. Nothing. I know that you can buy it from some individuals on that popular stuff-buying website named after a river, but I am pretty sure it's out of print. But, again, I don't know.



I'm not sure what it is about this collection of R&B material that, when you really pay attention to it, is sort of sad. I mean, who has the blues during the most wonderful time of the year? Everybody, probably. I mean, that's what happens on Christmas, right? Man, I'm being a real buzzkill about this Christmas thing. Sorry, dudes.

What I'm trying to say is that this record is awesome and you should listen to it now. Over and over again. It's what I'll be doing.

Merry Christmas, baby!

Let's Twist With Texaco!

Guaranteed to be the best Puerto Rican twist record released by Texaco you will hear all week!



I did the best I could with the artist names on this thing. You can see on the back cover how they're credited. Maybe you know something about these artists and you can attribute them better than I did? Let me know. Also, the Texaco commercial at the end of side one is not listed, and because I am an American, I don't know how to say "commercial" in Spanish and am too lazy to look it up. Sorry!



Click here to twist along with Texaco!

Baphomet: Self-titled 7"

I don't know a whole bunch about these guys. I learned from the internet that they changed their name to Banished because, believe it or not, there was another metal band called Baphomet. You get about what you'd expect from this: early 90's American death metal played as fast, at times, as ability seems to allow. Just some dudes hanging out in Immolation and Cannibal Corpse shirts making music that your parents would probably hate. It's a good time. I've included scans of the labels as well as the included sticker and dot-matrix printed ad for Chainsaw Abortions fanzine.



Get it.

Grandpa's Lament

When you think of Grandpa Jones, and I know you do, you probably think of him like this:



Which is proper and good. That's what Grandpa Jones does. He plays the banjer really loud and yells and stomps. And occasionally tells you what's for supper.

Which is what makes The Other Side of Grandpa Jones such a weird experience.



Country music has a tradition of dealing with the tragic sides of life. It's part of what you sign up for when you listen to it. But a comic figure like Granpda is so anti-tragedy at face value that when something like this record comes along, there's a disconnect. Sure, Grandpa never shied away from songs of tragedy and ballads of lost love before, but they were generally balanced out with a "Chicken Don't Roost Too High" or an "I'm No Communist". But not here. Having 14 Grandpa Jones downer tracks in a row is pretty harsh. Just look at this track list:



You'll notice (if you are not blinded by the conspicuous overuse of the word "darling") that this is some sad, sad business. I understand that the record buying public had no idea who Louis Marshall Jones was, and in order for this to sell, it had to have the "Grandpa Jones" name on it, but this is a Louis Marshall Jones album if there ever was one. In fact, I'm not 100% sure that there's even any banjo playing on it at all. Which is not at all to say that this isn't a good record. Because it is.
It just isn't the Grandpa you know from Hee-Haw.

Click here to be seriously bummed out by Grandpa Jones.

Oh, and the first song skips. I am aware of this. But this track is available on Grandpa's album "Mountain Dew", which you probably already have, so you'll be fine...

It's Country Music Time Again!

I'm completely serious about my offer to pay good American money to the United States Air Force for access to their archive of "Country Music Time" recordings. Of course, this is probably just the sort of thing that they don't have anymore. I hope I'm wrong, and that these tapes are in a vault in the Pentagon somewhere, but I think that the armed services of the United States may have a few things that they consider more important than maintaining a library of country music recordings. Based on the label and enclosed program sheet for this record, spell checking is not one of those things. Remember, there is only one "e" in "Ferlin Husky" and it's in his first name.



The other artist here is Billy Walker. Who had a pretty spectacular career, but you never really hear much about him anymore.



Here's the program sheet for these two shows (a scan is also included in the download).



I haven't done anything to these files, so they still sound like you're listening to a 40+ year old record. Because you are.

Here's the thing you click on to download this record.

George Jones and Melba Montgomery - "Blue Moon of Kentucky"

I'm just sitting around this morning not really doing anything at all, and I'm listening to this record. It's a really good record to listen to while you're just sitting around on Sunday morning and not doing anything, so I wanted you to have the same ability.

So, here it is. There's a skip in the song "Before She Changed Your Mind", but we're not really the kind of people who care about things like that, are we?

Books to Prisoners Compiilation 7" - Devoid of Faith, Drift, Seized, Los Crudos

This is apparently the only thing the Young Heirs Project ever released. Not to be cynical, but I have to wonder how many books a hardcore / powerviolence 7" comp actually put into the hands of prisoners, especially since they state that fifty cents from each record went toward that end.

Still, I'm not trying to poke fun at social activism. Direct action gets the goods, you know, and I never put out any records to try and help anybody.

Here's your link, including extensive scans of the booklet and additional sticker and flyer asking for bands interested in being on a CD comp that I have to assume never got released...

Or maybe I'm wrong.

Today's Army Presents The Gene Price Country Express: April, 1974, Program 4

And, finally, we have part 4 of our 4 part series of the Gene Price Country Express.

You wanna know what's on this one? Okay!



And that's the end. You may not remember how bad that Tom T. Hall song is, but it's really bad. Also, Freddy Weller covers a Cowsills song on this one.

So, I don't want this to become the blog of dumb government-sponsored radio programs, but there' plenty more where this came from. Maybe you should leave me a comment and tell me if you want more of this crap. Anyway, click here to "enjoy" the 4th part of our series. It skips a couple of times. You'll live.

Today's Army Presents The Gene Price Country Express: April, 1974, Program 3

And here's program 3 of 4 of the Gene Price Country Express for April, 1974. I've basically run out of things to say about this program, but it's still a good thing for you to waste 25 minutes on. The Jerry Lee Lewis song has a skip in it, and Gene leads off the whole show doing a really terrible duck voice. Want to see the track listing? Okay!


Here it is...Enjoy!

The Trans Megetti - "Rent A Rocket" 7"

The Trans Megetti's album Steal The Jet Keys is a good album. But I was disappointed when I bought it because the version of "Rent A Rocket" on the album wasn't the same version on the 7" I bought at their show. The version here is more energetic and forceful, you know?

I'm sure you do. Or, you will after you listen to this.

Today's Army Presents The Gene Price Country Express: April, 1974, Program 2

Obviously, this is just my opinion, but there's a drop in quality from the 1st week of April, 1974 to the second on the Gene Price Country Express. Sure, you're got two sure-fire hits with Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton, but overall It's not as good as last week.

Also, you get some pretty ridiculous "boys-will-be-boys" material from Mr. Price who refers to Dolly Parton as "two of his favorite singers". Get it? It is because she has very large breasts and there are two of them! He's talkin' 'bout tits, boys! Let's all join the Army! This is hilarious on a level that was maybe unintended, though, because by turning this particular phrase, Gene has sort of insinuated that Dolly Parton's boobs are "singers", my mental image of which is both fascinating and disgusting. Oh, and wait'll you hear the hi-jinx that go down when Gene asks his "sidekick" (who is, you know, Gene Price doin the "grizzled old man" voice) for a "winch". Oh, how you will laugh.

BONUS: there's a terrible, cloying, syrupy, boring, stupid Bobby Bare song that's not mentioned in the program listing. Speaking of the program listing, here:


There's some odd sound stuff going on here if you listen closely, because I literally had to put one of my son's blocks on the tone arm to keep this record from skipping, which I'm sure is bad for both the needle and the record, but it's not really noticeable unless you're listening really closely. If you're looking for audiophile quality in your government-sponsored Country music programs from 35 years ago, you should probably just read a book or something. The rest of you, click here to download week 2 (of April, 1974) of the Gene Price Country Express!

Today's Army Presents The Gene Price Country Express: April, 1974, Program 1

When I first worked in radio (at WKIG in Glennville, GA), we ran a few syndicated shows that were shipped on vinyl. We'd play them and then either give them away to any DJ that wanted to take them or, if nobody wanted them, we'd throw them in the trash. All the ones we had were the Rick Dees top 40 and a syndicated Southern Gospel program. I never took any of the records, but I really wish I had.

I was very happy when a friend presented me with the 2 record set of Gene Price's Country Express from April, 1974 (the same month I was busy being born). I have long maintained that the U.S. Armed forces are sitting on a GOLD MINE. I would gladly pay actual money for access to the archives, whether through a digital subscription or buying actual CDs of the Air Force's "Country Music Time" program specifically, but also things like this. Oddly enough, this record was once held in the collection of the Talladega, Alabama public library.

Anyway... This is the first of a 4 part series of all the weekly programs from April 1974 of the Gene Price Country Express. I'm not trying to be clever and "recreate the experience" or anything, I'm just too lazy to record all 80 minutes tonight.

What's on this episode, you ask? Take a look at this!


That Charlie Rich song skips once, by the way, but I was, again, too lazy to go back and fix it. You'll live. Also, check out that not-country-in-any-way-AT-ALL guitar solo in the Webb Pierce song.

Click here to learn about the benefits of joining today's (more accurately 1974's) Army right out of high school!

My Friends The Strangers

Merle Haggard is great. Nobody's gonna argue with that, and if they do then they are wrong. I will repeat that: Merle Haggard is great. Part of what made his late 60's / early 70's output so rock-solid was the backing of his band, The Strangers. So, in 1970, Capitol Records released a record of The Strangers playing songs (mostly) without Merle. Of course, Capitol knew who was selling records, so Merle's on the cover and makes a few appearances on the record.

This is a really good record (even with a somewhat shaky non-Merle vocal performance), and listening to it reminds me of how good Merle Haggard's backing band was as well as how damned short albums used to be. This whole thing's over in less than 20 minutes. But it is 20 minutes well spent.

Click here to meet my friends, The Strangers.

The Coctails - "The Penguin / Powerhouse" / "Potch In The Tuchus" 7"

Man, The Coctails. They're really good. I said pretty much everything I really had to say about them the last time I posted one of their records. Here they are doing a Raymond Scott medley and an original. They're both amazing and will probably make you want to jump around the room. Thanks to digital technology, you don't have to worry about the record skipping.

This was released in 1993 on the Singles Only Label, which put out some good records. The A side features Poi Dog Pondering trumpet player Dave Crawford, and percussion by WFMU DJ and author Irwin Chusid, who's also credited as "executive producer" of this record.

Both of these songs are available on The Coctails "Popcorn Box" 3-Disc retrospective (details here), so if you want some more good music in your world you should maybe consider purchasing a physical copy or buying a download of this collection.

I have included scans of the front and back of this record in and out of the nicely-designed Singles Only Label sleeve.

Click here to download Singles Only Label catalog # 355-7

I also had it pointed out to me that the link above was originally pointing to the wrong place. If you click on the "Click here" link above, it will take you to the download page now. Sorry, internet!

Call Of The Wild Flexi-Disc

From the official discography at the Woggles website:
"This is a flexi that came with issue number 1 of a fanzine we and some of our friends put together. There are 4 songs on it, one each from Southern Culture On the Skids, Man Or Astroman?, the Labrea Stompers, and us. We do the only vocal number, a version of "Little Red Book" that was recorded summer of 1989 at Underground Sound in Athens, GA.
Engineered by Robbie Collins.
Released March 1993."

There you have it. It's good. I have the magazine somewhere, and I'll scan it if I find it. This is a flexi disc, and it definitely sounds like one. I didn't do any digital cleanup. Hope you like scratches and pops!


Click here to download this record.

Christmas In America

If you're anything like me, you like the Christmas music, but you're always left disappointed because the singers don't have a thick enough German accent.

This record will solve that problem for you.

Here you go.

The Coctails - "Winter Wonderland" EP

Welcome to December, when everyone starts puling out the Christmas music and decorations (unless you work where I do...a place where this happened on the day before Halloween for some reason. Seriously...).

Anyway...The Coctails are really good. I always forget that I have this record until after Christmas when it is too late. So I'm putting it here so I (and hopefully you) will not forget about it. Hey, did I just tie the title of this "blog" into an entry? I think I did!

The Coctails played in Athens only 1 time, I think. The Woggles opened for them. I had recently recorded some saxophone stuff on the Woggles "Hang Loose" record and I played a couple songs with them during their set. I was really excited about opening for The Coctails. I had talked to them before the show and they were all really great guys and I loved their records and I couldn't wait to finally see them live. They played a couple of songs and one of the band members (I cannot remember which one) got very sick. The show was called off, and they never made it back to Athens. They did a reunion show in Chicago a couple years ago, but I'm still waiting on that Athens show...

I have included front and back cover scans, label scans and a scan of the 1994 Hi-Ball Records catalog.

I promise this isn't going to become all Christmas all month, but I'd be a fool to share this with you guys. I hope you enjoy it.

Winter Wonderland.

All Star Country - Harmony Records Compilation

I'm uploading this today because I'm listening it this morning. I love this record. There are no real surprises here, just a really solid, if maybe too short, collection of good stuff.

I got this when I was working at a coffee shop where a local record collector/dealer had dropped off a few crates of three dollar records for us to sell. I pulled this one out because it has a Lefty Frizzell song on it that I had heard bu did not own. I think that first night, I played this record for probably three hours straight. It may have been that Norma Jean song that hooked me.

Whatever it was (is), this remains my favorite country compilation. It's a good record for a Sunday morning, which is why I'm uploading it now, but it works pretty much any time. This is really good stuff.

Enjoy!

And you should totally click on the link in the second paragraph and buy some records from Kurt. I say without hesitation that he has lots of stuff you want.

Tracklist:
Roy Acuff and His Smoky Mountain Boys - "Cheating"
Norma Jean - "Someplace To Cry"
Carl Butler and Pearl - "Loving Arms"
Lefty Frizzell - "Release Me"
Johnny Cash - "Delia's Gone"
Marty Robbins - "Are You Sincere?"
Stonewall Jackson - "Everybody But Me"
George Morgan - "Sweet, Sweet Lips"
Ray Price - "I'm Walking Slow (And Thinking 'Bout Her)"

The Music Explosion - "Sunshine Games" / "Can't Stop Now"

Well, this is a rare case. The Kasenetz / Katz song on this record isn't the highlight. "Sunshine Games" is great. I think they lyrics are about 8 words, and it'll get in your head and stay there for a while. Oh, the B-Side's no slouch, but this one's all about "Sunshine Games". All my lonely li-hiiiife, indeed.

Happy Thanksgiving, Americans!


Click here for Laurie Records No. 3400.

The Family - "Do The Robot (Part 1)"

Another robot song! I don't know anything about this other than the fact that I got sort of ripped off, because "Do The Robot (Part 1)" on both sides of this single. There's a yellow-label Northbay pressing of this same single that has Part 2 on the B-side which I've seen listed on some Northern Soul websites, but very little information is available.

Anyway, this song's got a dude with a really deep voice saying "right on" and "robot" a few times. It's a good time. Oh, and there's a little skip in the fade-out, but you'll be okay.

Get it!