Greek Fire that is not related to Saganaki

Anthony Quinn, meet Eric Dolphy....OK maybe every time I hear a bass clarinet I think of Eric Dolphy anyway, but do you hear a little of him in this mish-mosh of Greek sounding music and pop standards? no?

This album was a very pleasant surprise, it features Chris Vardakis (liner notes neglected to say what instrument Chris plays) and a jazzy combo featuring bouzoukias, finger cymbals, dumbaks, accordion, and marimba. The pop songs such as "Tonight" and "Chicago" with a Greekish sound are pretty forgettable, but "Greek Fire" and "Thana" really rock. I think you'll like it, even tho I don't really know who "you" are.

Greek Fire Chris Vardakis and his Bouzoukias Orchestra

Colpix Records SCP 447

Mr. Tremendous Speaks

Mr. Tremendous spoke, but I only listened to part of it. Simply because he spends a lot of time talking about Jesus and selling insurance, neither of which I find particularly interesting. He has a tendency to speak in a really manic way, then holler after he makes a point that he thinks is important. Or to keep the back row from falling asleep.
I bought it because I thought it might be fun to hear him expound about the "New LSD", so I will save you the trouble of having to listen to the entire album to hear this one goofy part--you can just download the 2 minutes it takes him to talk about it and save yourself a lot of time.

The New LSD

Mr. Tremendous Speak Everyone Listens - Charles E. Jones

Hymntone records, Harrisburg PA ("The Sacred Music Capital of the East")

Baldwin Sound Productions, Inc.

Honking Sax Men

Honkin', screamin' rhythm and blues sax music from Sam "The Man" Taylor (you know him from Screamin' Jay's "I Put a Spell on You"), Big Jay McNeely, Lee Allen, Hal Singer, and Paul Williams.

Since I did such a bad job at dividing the tracks, you will probably prefer to download each album side below.

Side 1
Side 2
Side 3
Side 4


or: my poor attempt to divide them into individual tracks:

Honkers & Screamers - Roots of Rock 'n Roll Vol. 6 Savoy SJL 2234

Que Es Lo Que Pasa Aqui, Pacho ?

I dig everything about this album, from the coy senorita peering from behind the conga on the washed out album cover, to the exuberant almost cartoon-y music from Colombian Pacho Galan and his orchestra. They must have been a killer live band!

Caracoleando - Pacho galan y sus Sabaneros
Tropical Records LD-1415

Jun Mayuzumi

I LOVE when fellow bloggers offer me things that aren't quite right for their own blogs...such as this great collection of singles by 60s Japanese pop singer Jun Mayuzumi, graciously donated by the owner of the fabulous Music From The Third Floor.

Mange tusen takk, my blogging cousin!!

Download here

Let's Get Organized

An "organ ensemble" of two Hammonds and a Baldwin, PLUS rhythm section could only result in a cacophony of sounds, right? HELL YES! And today's album, the brainchild of Three Suns' Marty Gold, is the charming clusterfuck that is a delight to the ears. Best cuts for me are I Saw Stars, Sposin' and the bitchslappin' chordal punctuation in Sentimental Journey. WHAP!

Organized for Hi-Fi Marty Gold and his Organ Ensemble

Vik LX-1069 recorded 1956, released 1957

Rundown below:

Strange to Your Ears

Today's album is a precursor to the cult(-ish) 1960 classic Symphony of the Birds. Jim Fassett-- host of the intermission-break for the New York Philharmonic radio broadcasts in the late 50s-early 60s--was obsessed with manipulation of everyday sounds. He and his sound engineer, Mortimer Goldberg, used the latest technology to speed, slow, reverse or otherwise manipulate bird calls, musical instruments, crying babies, dripping faucets and analyze the living bejeebus out of them. The liner notes mention contemporary composers such as Varese and Boulez who were doing similar experiments at the time (not to mention Les Paul). Interesting as a period piece, and really annoying at the end when he plays 20 altered sounds, then neglects to say what they actually are. Playing the record at 78 revealed some of them to me, but the novelty was short lived. So I recommend those with low irritation thresholds (like myself) avoid listening to the last cut on side 2. UPDATE: check the comments for the complete rundown of that cut's sound effects! Thank you Ted Hering for the info!


Strange to Your Ears - Jim Fassett
Columbia ML 4938

Man with a (Raunchy) Horn

How about some raunchy jazz sax for your V-Day listening pleasure? Nothing revolutionary here, just some standup jazz from Midwestern jazzman Tommy Wills. The Rite Records label is from Cincinnati, but Waxidermy tells me Wills is from my area, and recently played in the Indianapolis club, the Jazz Kitchen, to celebrate his 85th birthday.

Man With a Horn - Tommy Wills Combo
with Cal Collins, Cookie Agee, Ralph Byrd (guitar, Bill Willis (bass) Phillip Paul, Don Littman, Gene Dawson (drums), Neil Hope, Jerry Lane (organ)
Terry-Gregory records LP 1000

Man with a Horn
La-Dee-Da
Hard (Tuffer Than Tuff)
Aw Shucks (Go On An' Twist)
Walkin Mr. Sax
Stairway To the Stars

Tommy's Dreram
Blues in the Night
DIane
Satin Doll
Can't Get Started
Mr. Movin is Groovin

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!, originally uploaded by Roadsidepictures.

If Hell Were All-Inclusive, it Would Be a Cruise Ship

Why you need to download this album: inept reggae/steel drum versions of “Shaving Cream”. And “Yesterday”. And “Before the Next Teardrop Falls”.

The whole concept of the cruise getaway escapes me-—I see them as pre-chewed and soul-numbing concoctions of summer camp, endless mall food and Epcot. Today's album was recorded live on the Norwegian Caribbean Lines M/S Skyward--the good news is that for every hour spent on the cruise, you earn credit for one hour in purgatory. What a timesaver!

It seems that the Norwegian Caribbean lines must have had a relaxed policy of offering the open bar to their house band, the Sunny Days-—their version of “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights” takes on a whole new meaning as sung by the inebriated lead singer. Or maybe he’s unintelligible for a different reason, it’s hard to guess. Anyway, I'm not sure even endless free booze and great weather would make this sound good....

Sunny Days Volume Two (won't be looking for Vol. 1 any time soon....)
Recorded on Norwegian Caribbean Lines M/S Skyward
Art Records Manufacturing Co. , Ft. Lauderdale FL
Souvenir Records SLP-326

Here’s the rundown—if you play them it order it’ll cover up the fact that I did a really lousy job of dividing the tunes. Oh, merde!

Banana Boat Song
Before the next Teardrop Falls
Shaving Cream
Help Me Make it Thru the Night
My Girl (Reggae)
Land of Sea and Sun
My Pussin
I Can See Clearly Now
Wasted Days and Wasted Nights
Yesterday

Working towards the largest collection of useless autographs in the world! I got the Sunny Days' autographs!!

"A Little Off the Top, Please"

We all knew it was just a matter of time before I sunk so low to post a barbershop album, and that day has arrived. To my credit, I was only able to listen to two of the songs, "Down in Jungle Town" and the perennial barbershoppers tune "Sweet Adeline". Jungle Town did not disappoint, it's a particularly annoying and stupid song of hot monkey love. The album cover is the BEST, and it's from Tops, whose substandard efforts we have all enjoyed in the past.

Two songs from Barbershop Ballads - The Sportsmen Quartet
Tops L-1671


My mood today:

For Organ, Marimba, and Canary Choir

All you lazy canaries are on notice, your slothful days spent merely nibbling at a cuttlebone, staring fixedly into space, and depositing your commentary on yesterdays' newspaper are THROUGH. Today I begin playing this very excellent record featuring the massively talented Hartz Mountain Canary Choir (with organ and marimba accompaniment), and you canaries are expected to be joining in lustily by day two. By next week I expect you all to be singing counterpoint!

Much of the pleasure of owning a canary comes through our enjoyment of their rich, melodic singing. However, unless birds receive training, they will not know how to use their singing voices to the full extent.....Canaries learn through listening. And on this record, canaries can listen to-- and learn from--the world's most accomplished songsters, the famous Hartz Mountain Master Radio Canaries.

And what canary in his/her/whatever right mind would NOT be compelled to tweet along with the Mexican Hat Dance, several melodies by Strauss and Dvorak, and the supremely infectious "Pizzicato Polka"? A loud and appreciative TWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!! for this fine recording.

Canary Training Record
The Hartz Mountain Master Radio Canaries

Tales of the Vienna Woods
Pizzicato Polka
An Artist's Life
Mexican Dance
Beautiful Blue Danube
Humoresque

Timber-r-r!

Hear that scritchy noise? That's me, scraping the very bottom of the barrel with today's record. Let's DON'T Be Policemen after all, that's just the cover I snagged when I bought this record, it had no jacket of its own. Today we are going to be shanty boys, and cut down trees and eat our lunch and go to the lavatory! At least I think that's what "Keep the Logs Movin'" refers to. Anyway, Tom Glazer and the boys sing about stuff made of wood and that rough and tumble life of the shanty boys, and gosh, isn't it a jolly good time we're all having?

Timber-r-r!

1. Timber
2. Shanty-boys' Life
3. Keep the Logs Movin'
4. Wood
5. Timber

More Music From Peter Gunn

Much of Henry Mancini's incidental music from the late 1950s TV series "Peter Gunn" has already been re-released. Here are a few of the cuts from "More Music From Peter Gunn" that have not yet made it to CD. They're all exceptional cuts, and deserve to be heard. Musicians include Shelly Manne and Pete Condoli, I don't know enough about West Coast jazz to recognize any others but they're all on the liner notes.

Selections from More Music From Peter Gunn - Composed and conducted by Henry Mancini (1959)
RCA LPM-2040

Odd Ball
A Quiet Gass
My Manne Shelly
Goofin' at the Coffee House
Lightly

A Dance Date in Havana

Today's cha cha album is the real deal, from Orquesta Fiesta Cubana featuring Cheo Belen Puig, which is probably the best name I have heard all week. Unfortunately I found the album a big snooze, maybe you'll like it better than I did.


A Dance Date in Havana - Orquesta Fiesta Cubana under the direction of Cheo Belen Puig
Fiesta Records FLP=1213

Errante y Bohemio
Los Envidiosos
La Juma de Ayer
Lupina
Viva el Rey

El Limpiabota
Alma Guajira
No Me Gustan los Boches
Quiereme Mucho
El Derumbe del Solar

Crooked Creek Crickets

Today’s fish in a barrel selection features the Crooked Creek Crickets from Indianapolis IN, circa 1973.

Should you ever have a need to self-induce a headache, may I recommend the Crooked Creek Cricket’s apocalyptic version of “Make a Joyful Noise Unto the Lord”? The Lord’s response: Can you keep it down a little? I’m trying to concentrate.

Other best/worst that will throw your pituitary out of whack: Getting to Know You, Green Leaves of Summer.

Crooked Creek Crickets

Crooked Creek Crickets
Psalm 100/Make a Joyful Noise Unto the Lord
Sometime I Feel Like a Motherless Child
We'll Fight for Uncle Abe
No Business Like Show Business
I Want to Be Happy
Green Leaves of Summer
Can't Get a Man With a Gun
Maggie Blues
Getting to Know You
You're Just in Love

The Minstrels Clicked

This is a superior album, simply due to the appearance in the liner notes of the phrase “latter day outgrowth of the negro recreational shuffles”. And the punnish “The Minstrels Clicked” heading. I love a fine poetic turn of phrase.
Play this album, and the vision and sounds of a room full of rhythm-challenged moppets will fill your brain, guaranteed. And this is from someone who called the Beatles (in general, and the song “Michelle” in particular) annoying. If you ever read the blog comments.

Anyway, this album will provide the background so you can tap, tap, tap your way to stardom, although your heart is breaking, or how ever that old movie script goes.

Tap Dance Rhythms - Johnny Maddox
Dot DLP-3008

Liner notes & track list below, don't make me type them all out!