Winter 2013 Mixtape

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?