Thrift Store Adventures: February 2, 2007, Pasco, Washington

Being the lazy ass I can be sometimes, I've been meaning to put up the finds I found last week, but... eh, rather than blah blah blah on about nothing, let's just get into the records.

I should preface this by saying that I went to the St. Vincent de Paul in Pasco after driving past it for the last few months and noticing that the records were moved upfront to the window. I didn't bother going in because the selection in the last few years has been less than desirable. Yes, it is the same St. Vincent de Paul where I bought a certain 45 for a dime and sold it on eBay years later for $495 or so, but things like that aren't common. Seeing the records upfront pushed me, lead me to finally turn my car into the parking lot and look.

I began to browse and I'm seeing familiar names, and not of the Merrill Womack and Oral Roberts variety. Familiar labels, and not just Peter Pan and Myrrh. I kept on packing them on top of each other. Not a major stack, but...

As always, in alphabetical order:

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GARY BURTON/STEVE SWALLOW
Hotel Hello
(ECM; 1975)
This was one of a number of jazz albums that were in the racks. It's jazz, it's on ECM, how could I complain? I like some of the Burton material I've heard on Atlantic, I'm unfamiliar with Steve Swallow, although for whatever reason I've heard his name before. The album is just Burton collaborating with Swallow, no drums or anything. It's laid back, ECM style, and funky at times, in fact I'm sure I've heard some of this in songs before, as far as samples are concerned.

CHARLIE BYRD/BARNEY KESSEL/HERB ELLIS
Great Guitars
(Concord; 1975)
Before they bought the Stax and Fantasy catalogs, Concord was one of many independent jazz labels in the 1970's that were there to fill the void as major labels got rid of their jazz departments. One can find their albums fairly easy, and one might think that that is a sign of it being not good. Buy, listen, and decide for yourself.

Great Guitars is a good album bringing together three jazz guitarists to play and show their love for their craft in a live setting. All the songs on this are very good, including "Undecided", "Topsy", and "Benny's Bugle".

HERB ELLIS
Soft & Mellow
(Concord; 1979)
Now, here's Ellis on his own, four years later. One could call this "cool jazz", of the early George Benson variety, and like his work on many other albums, Ellis' work here is worthy of many listens.

BILL EVANS
The Bill Evans Album
(Columbia; 1971)
I had never heard or seen this one, which is odd considering it won two Grammy awards. After years of playing with many musicians and recording for so many labels, Evans found himself talking with Clive Davis, who would sign Evans to Columbia. The Bill Evans Album begins with "Funkallero" in a manner that sounds more characteristic with what Ramsey Lewis would do a few years later, with an electric piano. My knowledge of Evans' music is on the surface, but I had never heard him get electrified before, so it was a surprise. After a few minutes, he moves to the traditional piano and plays in the style that he became known form.

It sounds great, and the musicianship is very good, featring Eddie Gomez on bass and Marty Morrell on drums. In an interview with Morrell, it seems he wasn't too pleased with the album, partially because the powers that be at Columbia wanted to change the sound and dynamics of the way they recorded the instruments, arguably a technique that would change the way most studios recorded artists. (You can read the full interview here.) Despite the verge of what was to come, it is a very good album, where Evans gets a chance to finally play his own material. Nice.

THE GOLDDIGGERS
...Today!
(RCA; 1971)
WOW! Ten women singing delightful pop as to not irk the people who hated that hippie crap. It seems that's why The Golddiggers became popular. The group of ladies would have a television show that would replace other shows that were canceled, which they would do for three years until someone realized they should have their own proper series.

Some of these ladies were quite attractive way back when (a good 36 years ago), and I figured it had to be a bit cheesy. I was right, but it's amazing to hear what did pass off as good music, or what labels wanted to pass off as good music.

The best song on here is a Peggy Lee original, called "I Want Some Man To Give Me Some". I bet. Obviously the ladies want some, and in the traditional pop manner, they don't hint at what that "some" is, and I'm sure there's an audience who never quite understood what that "some" really was. Eh.

FREDDIE HUBBARD
Straight Life
(CTI; 1970)
One of the first releases on Creed Taylor's own label, this one is a must hear. After recording for Atlantic for many years, Hubbard found himself on CTI, where he would stay to record even more classic music. Here, he's joined by Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette, Joe Henderson, Pablo Landrum, and George Benson. Some of these guys were not only coming in and out of sessions for Miles Davis, but were doing their own thing and also session work for others. The title track is a 17½ jam that sounds a bit like early Weather Report, and you really hear the instruments breathe throughout, especially Carter and the stand-up bass that helps keep everything together.

Side Two features "Mr. Clean" and "Here's That Rainy Day", and one almost wishes there was much more to this album than the three songs offered.


BURL IVES
Little White Duck
(Columbia)
This Columbia pressing is a reissue of an album Ives released on the Columbia subsidiary Harmony. It is an album of children's songs, in that style that millions of people loved him for. I bought it to be able to hear "Fooba Wooba John", which talks about a flea kicking a tea. Amazing.

JOY OF COOKING
Castles
(Capitol; 1972)
I've heard of these guys before but never heard them. Joy Of Cooking were of the country rock/rock country variety, and had some connections with the Grateful Dead. I've always liked this kind of music, and I find myself enjoying it more. The group were lead by two ladies, Toni Brown and Terry Garthwaite, and with their band they recorded this one in Berkeley, singing about good times, longing for better times, and hoping for better.

The band weren't a massive success for Capitol, and were dropped after this album. Both Brown and Garthwaite would eventually record as a duo, and in time they would do their own individual music. Joy Of Cooking weren't bad at all, and it is a shame that you don't hear this kind of stuff on oldies radio.

EDDIE KEKAULA
I'll See You In Hawaii
How Great Thou Art
(Kekaula)
Eddie Kekaula was a Hawaiian living in California, which might answer the question of why his albums and 8-tracks are found in thrift stores. It's not because he's bad, because he's not. He was someone who released his own records on his own label, and he worked with some of the best musicians around, including Benny Saks, Sol K. Bright, and Bill Aliiloa Lincoln. Yet he's not up there in rank with Hui Ohana, Sunday Manoa, Gabby Pahinui, or Alfred Apaka, and unfortuantely that may never change. But Kekaula's music pops up frequently, so if you want a decent introduction to the goodness that Hawaiian music can provide, pick his music up. I'll See You In Hawaii feature a number of songs that have become Hawaiian standards, while How Great Thou Art is of the religious variety.

CHARLES LLOYD
Forest Flower
(Atlantic; 1967)
Recorded live at Monterey, Forest Flower has Charles Lloyd performing at his best with Keith Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette, and Cecil McBee. The two part "Forest Flower" suite (a "Sunrise" and a "Sunset") is one of those things where you wish you were there to witness the performance, especially Jarrett, who takes the show away from Lloyd for two minutes during his solo in the "Sunset" section. As the liner notes from George Avakian indicate, it sounds like it was very much a "joyous atmosphere", and when they finally get to "East Of The Sun", it comes close to nirvana. Beauty.

JOHN MURTAUGH
Blues Current
(Polydor; 1970)
Nothing like the wonders of the Moog to pull you through a cold winter morning, right?

Cool, exotic, toxic, and occasionally drippy and funky, Blues Current is the kind of album that happens when everyone falls in love with an instrument and record labels will find every way to utilize/exploit it.

It's a blues album where the primary instrument is a Moog, which is alright but fortunately Bernard Purdie and Herbie Hancock, along with bassist Gerry Jemmont, are there to pull us through. This LP is primarily known for the song "Slinky", due to its irresistible funk squeezes. Thanks, Purdie.

PEDDLER
Street Corner Stuff
(Chisound/United Artists; 1976)
Disco freshness, or at least I think it is. The album is still sealed, with a nice weird coating of grit on the back (or at least I'm hoping it's grit).

POCO
A Good Feelin' To Know
(Epic; 1972)
The ever humble Poco. As much as I've heard of these guys, I've never heard their music until now, and I'm glad I finally did. At this point in the game, Jim Messina was no longer in the group, discovering that a production job with Kenny Loggins could resort in an interesting duo situation. But Timothy B. Schmidt, who would later move on to join The Eagles, was with the band.

So what exactly was A Good Feelin' To Know? The feeling of solace, the feeling of home, the feeling of a family, and all of that is celebrated here. Right on. After hearing this, you'll understand why he was the perfect candidate for The Eagles.

SHANNON
Let The Music Play (12" single)
(Emergency; 1983)
This was one of my favorite songs when I was 12, it was funky, cool to dance to, and the electronic beats meant you could pop and breakdance if you were able to. I could never fully break, other than the worm, but I could pass the wave if I wanted to.

I bought this because this would be the first pressing, not the later pressing on Mirage/Atlantic that most people (including myself) are familiar with.

STARS ON LONG PLAY
s/t
(Radio; 1981)
For the album, they wanted to be known as Stars On Long Play, but for all intents and purposes most people know them as Stars On 45. The death of John Lennon on December 8, 1980 made as much of an impact as the death of John F. Kennedy did for Americans, but on a much bigger scale. 1981 left many wanting to honor Lennon, and someone had put together an unofficial Beatles medley. What these guys did was recreate the sounds of The Beatles and lay it over a disco beat. The end result was a huge hit song, which lead to the album. Yeah, it's odd and goofy but it worked.

Side 2 of this album featured another range of oldies, and then a song credited to Long Tall Ernie & The Shakers, which is only so-so.

Stars On 45 would end up making a few more medleys, including a Stevie Wonder one that worked well, but none of them were as popular as the original medley Beatles tracks.

The phenomenon would lead to a number of even-more-corny disco arrangements of classical songs, done in medley form, and even the Cleveland punk band the New Bomb Turks found themselves getting into it punk rock style.

Opinion: Hawaiians On The Radio

Unless you live in Hawai'i or a city that has a specialty Hawaiian music radio show, why is it that the only time you hear Hawaiians on the radio is when you hear Yvonne Elliman's "If I Can't Have You", anything by the Pussycat Dolls, and a sample of Yvonne Elliman in a Fatboy Slim track? Huh? We have more music than that.

I know Israel Kamakawiwo'ole gets a lot of time on NPR and of course on television and in film, but I'm talking regular radio. I look forward to when Nicole Scherzinger's album comes out, then we'll have... one or two additional songs. Pfftt.

The Run-Off Groove #142 is ready for reading

Lots of new reviews this week, including new music from Mudkids and Miles Bonny among many others.

Go check it out:
http://www.musicforamerica.org/node/113568

Thrift Store Adventures: January 9, 2007: Hermiston, Oregon

When you're a bit on that "Straight Outta Lo-kash" experience, what do you do? Wait until Powerball goes up and drive long distances to buy a ticket or two, that's what. For me, that means crossing the border to Oregon for a ticket, which generally means a visit to Goodwill.

The last few visits have resulted in nothing. I had looked over the CD's and found a lot of Christian/gospel CD's, and a David Hasselhoff CD too. I was tempted to hear this crap, but I don't think his music was worth $2.50. When I went to the back to look for the records, I saw a beat up Steppenwolf album. Maybe, just maybe, there were a few goodies. Fortunately there were.

The 5th Dimension
Live!!
(Bell 9000)
This is one of those that you always see at a used record store, and perhaps never bought because... well, it's The 5th Dimension. They may have had some of the poppiest pop songs of the late 60's/early 70's, but they were always backed by the best musicians, and they were definitely good songs. A few of them may be your guilty pleasure. Of course, they close with "Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In", but as was customary with a lot of artists of the time, they had their own share of medleys, and this album is packed with them.

The album has always been one of those dollar bin pleasures, moreso now that Ludacris sampled elements of one of the songs.

MP3: The 5th Dimension - Together Let's Find Love (Live) (4mb)

Heads Hands & Feet
s/t
(Capitol SWBB-680)
As I was browsing, I always try to get a feel for an album by the cover. Sometimes you can get a better feel if you look at the catalog number. In this case, I knew it was definitely a Capitol album, but who, and what? I pulled this one and I said to myself "Head Hands & Feet"? I didn't recognize anyone in the band, the songs, or the producer. It was a double LP, and even in the late 60's/early 70's (I say this because this was the lime green label) they weren't handing out double albums to everyone. I had to give it a shot.

I'm glad I did. This is rock with a bit of country and blues thrown in, a la The Band, but from a British perspective. They start out rockin' in a nice way, before going here and there and yeah, everywhere, including some lengthy numbers.

MP3: Heads Hands & Feet - I'm In Need Of Your Help (2mb)

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The Impressions
The Versatile Impressions
(ABC ABCS-688)
The cover had the group photos in a distorted manner, cut up so you couldn't really see their faces. The first thing I actually noticed was the album being still sealed. Then I noticed the group name. The Impressions? Still sealed? I had to look at the back for a photo and there was the face I was looking for: Curtis Mayfield. I'd like to put it on eBay, but I want to open it and be the first one to have played it. I am in a frank dilemma.

King's Road
Today's TV Hits
(Pickwick SPC-3551; 1976)
Most people don't know who these bands are, most people could care less. But King's Road, I have no idea who they were, but they were a random group of musicians who recorded the hits of the day for Pickwick Records. Pickwick became the budget-minded label who recorded songs to sound like the originals, but sometimes they weren't capable of pulling that off either. I remember seeing this record as a kid, but why buy this when you can get real music, like Aerosmith's Rocks? I got it this time, to hear their version of "Theme From S.W.A.T.". The biggest surprise happen to be the last songs on each side. The version of "Mission: Impossible" sounds nothing like the original theme, and neither does "Theme From Star Trek", coming off like something you'd hear on a drag strip or in an old surf film than a science fiction TV series.

(EDIT: After doing a search, it seems that King's Road may have had some involvement from Jerry Vance & Terry Philips, at least according to a reply to this entry at the Scar Stuff blog.)

The Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by V. Fegomov
Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake
(Westminster Gold/ABC WGS-8248/2; 1973)
I'm not a classical music buff, but I've been wanting to get into that. In truth, this was a double album on an ABC Records-subsidiary that I've only seen on websites, so I went for it. The album was licensed from the Russian label Melodica, and is in mono.

Modern Sound
(untitled)
(Modern Sound MS 1021)
Modern Sound
(untitled)
(Modern Sound MS 1026)
I almost passed these up. The two albums do not mention who actually performed the songs, but like King's Road, it seems to be a random collection of musicians, this time from Nashville, Tennessee, covering the songs of the day. The covers were a bit moldy and I was reacting to them when I finally got home. The performances are decent, including their version of The Beatles' "She's A Woman", but nothing to jump off mountains for.

Lou Rawls
You're Good For Me
(Capitol ST 2927)
This album was fairly beaten up, and I should have opted to find one that was in much better condition. However, when you see Lou Rawls and the Capitol logo, you think of David Axelrod. This album is known for the track "Life Time Monologue", not for the dialogue but for the drum break that opens the song. I was more familiar with the mono version, where the drums are much more bold. In the stereo mix, the drums seem to be pushed back into the mix, and as stereophonic junkies know, even converting from stereo to mono will not result in the same sound desired.

MP3: Lou Rawls - Life Time Monologue (2mb)

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Below the rack of records was a drawer of 45's. In it was an Emerson Lake & Palmer 8-track (the good ol' pink tapes), along with two records of interest:

George Benson
Michelob Jazz Series (7" promo EP)
(Michelob Jazz 18941; 1981)
When I had taken this out, I saw the back cover first. It was a booklet so I thought at first it was a Disneyland children's read-a-long book/record. I turned it over, and it was jazz musician/singer George Benson. Not only that, but it was a promo 7" EP consisting of radio spots.

I like a lot of his music from the 70's and a small handful of his hits in the early 80's. I just find it odd that he would do something for Michelob, considering that he has been very strong about his religious beliefs over the years. One doesn't have to drink the beer in order to endorse the product and have them sponsor your tour, I guess, and good money is good money, even from Michelob. Jazz and blues concert tours and festivals have often been sponsored by alcoholic beverage companies, so it's nothing new. But to hear him sing "Put A Little Weekend In Your Week" is funny. He may not have shown support over the original mix of Digital Underground's "Freaks Of The Industry", but if you can put a little weekend in your week, why not? Cheers!



MP3: George Benson - Put A Little Weekend In Your Week (60 sec Laidback Full Vocal) (1mb)

The Parliaments
Look At What I Almost Missed/What You Been Growing
(Revilot RV-217)
I saw the familiar label in the drawer and I couldn't believe it. I had to pick it up to be sure. A 45 by The Parliaments? The first thing I thought was if Miss Shing-A-Ling saw this, she would say pfftt, this shit ain't obscure. It was an original, as the numbers in the matrix (run-off groove) was machine pressed. No counterfeit/bootlegs here. Someone years ago gave me a Parliaments 45 for free, just like that, and this time I find another for 50 cents. I wish I could find all of The Parliaments 45's that easy.

Thrift Store Adventures: January 6, 2007, Kennewick, Washington

I have been going to thrift stores, but for the most part the supply of records has been... well, it's been there, but the selection a bit "eh!" It's been like that everywhere. Nonetheless, a visit to the Goodwill in Kennewick, Washington (right across the street from Highland Health Foods) lead to two semi-OK discoveries.

Richland High School Swing Choir and Bel Canto 1971
O Happy Day
(Century no catalog #; 1971)
I'm still a sucker for crappy school records, but of course they weren't crap when the student gave this to their parents, saying "listen, this is me in the choir". This is a record for a local high school, and I bought it to hear their version of Blood Sweat & Tears' "Spinning Wheel". No rockin' break, unfortunately, and the only decent part of the song is when they incorporated "Variations On A Theme By Erik Satie" during the intro, as heard on the BS&T album. The album was recorded by Curtis Mohr, whom I had the pleasure of interviewing a few years ago for an article that was eventually scrapped. Mohr was the man responsible for recording countless high school records throughout Eastern Washington State.

Richland High School Swing Choir 1971 - Spinning Wheel (4mb)

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Flip Wilson
The Devil Made Me Buy This Dress
(Little David LD-1000
Always got to have some comedy in your life. I was a fan of Wilson as a kid, and while his comedy was not as raw as Redd Foxx or Richard Pryor, I had been told he was "risque", and I think it was because he was well known for her Geraldine character. What does amaze me is the fact that this, and a number of his albums on Little David, were nothing more than the audio track from the TV specials.

Out Of The Thrift Store, Into The Old TAVC: Kennewick, WA, October 29, 2006

The Giant Nickel is one of those freebie papers you find at the market where people can buy and sell their goods, along with ads for used cars, etc. The local Giant Nickel revealed a CD/RECORD MUSIC SALE to take place at the Tri-Tech Skills Center in Kennewick, Washington this coming Sunday. The Skills Center is what I still know as the Tri-Cities Area Vocational Skills Center, or T.A.V.C. (sometimes called by its initials, other times as "tay-vac"), the place where I went during high school to take Radio/Television Production. It was here where my childhood dream of being a radio DJ came true, and in a high school capacity became music director and in my senior year, station manager. But I remember it more for the music I played and having my own show, The Classic Cafe, where I played rock from the late 60's to the early 70-'s, an era I've always admired. I hadn't visited this place in 18 years so I wasn't sure what to expect. I've passed the building many times over the years, and yet as I went into the parking lot, I had a few memories, both good and bad. The good memories had to do with the music I played, the learning experience (the "TV Production" side of the class eventually lead to me getting my first "real job", as I don't consider my two-day stint at a thrift store a "job"). The bad had to do with certain parents being offended by some of the music we played on the air at the time, as the format was heavy metal. That coincided with the Parents Music Resource Center and of course the re-introduction of Satan in American culture. Unfortunately, I wrote a letter to the editor in the local paper, explaining that people have the freedom to listen or not. Unfortunately, I also spoke on behalf of the station and not my own, and I believe that was interpreted as "John is speaking on behalf of the class, the vocational center, and the school district", and it got very ugly to where I received death threats and was pretty much ignored by any friends I had.

It was a very rough two years, but I came out of it looking at the world differently. One, I quickly learned that the area I live in is considered "the most conservative area in Washington State", and anything considered "out of the norm" is not considered right. I listened to hip-hop AND heavy metal, had long hair, and also had a big nose, not exactly the stereotypical farmer's kid. I already had bad experiences in high school, but to enter a class that was my dream, only for that to fall apart and then be blamed for some of the troubles the station went through, was something that made me bitter. Two years later, I found myself embracing the local punk rock scene for the first time, and finding a better sense of community than I ever did in my three years at high school. If the punk community consisted of a group of rejects and outcasts, I fit in perfectly.

I've talked about it in writings elsewhere, but outside of the good times I had in Radio/TV Production, I would never wish my high school experience on anyone, ever. It was very much like Enid in Ghost World, where I just floated around and hoped I would be able to find the next bus out of town. Apart from vacations, I'm still waiting for that bus.

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However, this post is not about mixed feelings of high school, but about returning to that old building where I did have some good memories. I got there, and not surprisingly I had to walk through the radio station (KTCV, 88.1FM) to get to the CD/Record sale. Lots of rock posters and news articles all over the wall, something that was not allowed when I was in the class. It felt like a class for students, not a business office, so that was cool. I got into the commons, which is where the record sale was happening. It was very small once I looked around, maybe four or five tables consisting of boxes of records, and I saw a familiar face, local radio DJ legend Ed Dailey. When I moved here, he was a DJ doing shows under another name, which I don't remember now, but he had one of the best voices I had heard. As someone who admired the world of radio and broadcasting, Dailey had that cool voice you always wanted to hear. I don't know the full story, but he stopped for awhile and returned to the radio under his real name. I've also seen him on local public access taking part in Christian music shows, but he is better known for his experience in radio and a show he hosts today called Legends Of Country. On top of that, he is also the instructor of the class I had taken part in (I had a different instructor).

Once I seen Mr. Dailey, I had assumed that there would be a significant amount of country. It was more than significant, it was almost all country. Fortunately, my interest in country music has grown in recent years. Dailey came up to me as I stared looking in the boxes and said that all albums were 25 cents, and if someone wanted to make an offer, he would consider it. I figured that a lot of the albums would either be from his collection, old radio stock, or both. I was correct. As I browsed through the boxes, I was hoping to find more rock, more soul, more jazz, more funk. I also assumed the CD/Record sale would have more sellers, but I only noticed one other seller. Dailey talked to a collector who also happens to hold his own show, I wish I had went over to talk story but as any collector knows, if you're slow during browsing someone will snap up that record you may be looking for.

The majority of the records were were unknown to be, but I knew of most of the names: Glen Campbell, Kenny Rogers, Roy Clark, and many, many others. I heard Dailey also say that a good portion of the profits made during the sale would go back into the class, which I felt was cool. Since each record was 25 cents each, I could come out there with some great finds.

About half of the records had handwriting on it, some had seam splits, a bunch had masking tape on the side. In other words, your typical "dollar bin" collection. Dailey said that a lot of these albums were from his father's collection, he has held on to them over the years but now has no room.

Some records were in VG-/VG condition, a few a bit nicer. What I noticed first and foremost was the amount of albums on Capitol that were mono promos. With one or two, there had to be more, and I was right. I wish I had taken them all, and I could have but I resisted the urge. One guy looking through the boxes was on his cell, telling his friend "it's said that my paycheck has to go to rent this month". A Another guy, an older gentlemen, says "wow, this record is beautiful but it's going to mess up my needle really bad. I'll pass on this one." Before that he says "25 cents a record, that's amazing, and I'm probably going to go broke today." Aah yes, I was among my people, my fellow vinyl junkies.

I looked at another dealer, who was selling his collection of 45's. Some of them looked like they came from the bottom of a barrel, selling for $2 each? Not for me. I did spot a 45 of interest, Dyke & The Blazers' "Funky Broadway (Parts 1 & 2)" (Original Sound OS-64). The 45 was priced at $6, the paper in the front of the box said all records in the box was half priced and yet he charged me $5. I'm sorry my friend, but he took an L for that.

Behind me were boxes of promo CD's, as well as a box of CD-R's that were recorded. What surprised me was that they had promos of David Axelrod's The Edge compilation on Capitol, and the recent Mizell Brothers comp on Blue Note. Both are excellent albums, and I'm thinking "these two would be long gone if I was in Seattle."

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This is what I made it out with:

Buddy Alan-A Whole Lot Of Somethin' (Capitol ST-592)
Merle Haggard-Strangers (Capitol T-2373)
David Houston-Almost Persuaded (Epic BN 26213)
Ferlin Husky-One More Time (Capitol ST-768)
Sonny James-Only The Lonely (Capitol ST-193)
Sonny James & The Southern Gentleman (Capitol ST-478)
Sonny James-Empty Arms (Capitol ST-734)
Buck Owens & His Buckeroos-Together Again/My Heart Skips A Beat (Capitol T-2135)
Buck Owens-Buck Owens Sings Harlan Howard (Capitol ST-1482)
Buck Owens & His Buckeroos-Roll Out The Red Carpet (Capitol T-2443)
Buck Owens & His Buckeroos-Roll Out The Red Carpet (Capitol ST-2443)
Susan Raye-One Night Stand (Capitol ST-543)
Billie Jo Spears-Country Girl (Capitol ST-560)
Tompall And The Glaser Brothers-"...tick...tick...tick..." (soundtrack) (MGM SE-4667 ST)
White Lightnin'-Fresh Air (Polydor 24-4047)
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Soundtrack-Norwood (songs by Glen Campbell and Al DeLory) (Capitol SW-475)

In the 45rpm department:
Kip Adotta-I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus (Laff 024)
The Hagers-With Lonely/Tracks (Running Through The City) (Capitol PRO-4754)
The Righteous Brothers-Dream On/Dr. Rock And Roll (Haven/Capitol 7006)

DAMAGE:: $10

REVIEWS: Two CD's for your consideration

I have two new reviews up over at Okayplayer:

BONEY JAMES-Shine (order now at CD Universe)
MARISA MONTE-Universo Ao Meu Redor (order now at CD Universe)

Thrift Store Adventures: October 1, 2006, Pasco, Washington

At the rate things are going, I should just call this column The Story Of How One Man Deals With Going To The Same Goodwill Time And Time Again, Hoping To Find Gold.

That's not the reason I repeatedly go to the Pasco Goodwill. Those of you who may be keeping track, here's where we stand now. At one point Pasco had three thrift stores. The Salvation Army closed down years ago. There is a St. Vincent de Paul here, but there are records there that have been there since I went to high school. Goodwill updates their floor stock every few weeks. As the weather gets cold in the Pacific Northwest, yard and garage sales fade away until spring comes. There are other thrift stores in nearby places, but it has really become a crap shoot. Why bother with traveling any significant distance if you have a sense there's not going to be anything worthy? The ordeal of the record collector is that "what if?", or really any collector. Nonetheless, it's the Pasco Goodwill I return to, groovin' on a Sunday afternoon.

There are three bins full of records. The left side of the bin has nothing, the same stuff I had seen a week or so ago. Aah, but the right side has a few familiar names. Earl Klugh and... oh, what's this, David Newman on... oh oh, Cotillion? Being an Atlantic junkie, I was happy I found it but unfortunately, no record inside. This meant that I had to go through all of the bins. Not a chore, not a big deal. Or so I thought.

I hit the second bin and it begins with some classical records, some budget country, then the covers start to get interesting. One record, two records, three records, what the hell is going on? Here I am hoping to just find the David Newman vinyl and I'm seeing Quincy Jones, Shirley Scott, Ramsey Lewis. It's not sex, but damn I'm scoring.

Now the math begins. I know how much I have in my wallet ($20), and I know that if there's too many records, I have to:

1) Buy within the budget
2) Leave, rush to the bank, return

I could not find the Newman LP in the records, I knew there was an old phonograph where the cameras are but the only thing there was Chicago XI. No luck. Because I'm a numbnut, I decide to buy the cover WITHOUT the album. It will be a reminder to find the album somewhere. Not the one that's missing, but to find a copy with the record. The curious never rest.

Here's what I walked out with:

ODELL BROWN & THE ORGAN-IZERS-Mellow Yellow (Cadet LPS-788)
The organ was (ahem) big for awhile, and every label had their organ master. Chess Records, via their subsidiary Cadet, had Odell Brown. This is a nice soulful, bluesy, jazzer with some pretty good instrumentals. What amazes me is that the liner note says it was recorded in January 1967, and yet sounds as if it was recorded a few years later. There's a groove that would make these songs work in a number of capacities, but 1967? That's the power of jazz for you, always one step ahead of the game.


BOBBI HUMPHREY-Flute-In (Blue Note BST 84379)
I bought this yesterday, but I'm listening to it now, feeling the drums and I look at the liner note: Idris Muhammad. Life is a beautiful thing, isn't it? Back to the program...

I became a fan of the jazz flute through my dad, who was a fan of Herbie Mann. In the last ten years or so I've expanded my listening habits to cover other people who have played the flute, whether it's Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Yusef Lateef, James Moody or Bobbi Humphrey. If there were moments where Mann's music was moving towards easily listening, it seems Miss Humphrey was someone who was going to let her playing shine. This album, recorded in late 1971 and released in 1972, has Humphrey playing with some of the best: Lee Morgan, Hank Jones, Jimmy Johnson, and the aforementioned Muhammad. The vibe, kinda funky, kinda mellow, would make this a suitable release for CTI or Kudu.


QUINCY JONES-Gula Matari (A&M SP 3030)
There is a generation of people who may not have any idea of the music The Q had recorded over the years, especially in the late 60's/early 70's. An album like this makes digging for records worthwhile.

The cover looks like something that would be perfect on CTI, but A&M did that for awhile and for good reason, since this was produced by Creed Taylor (the CT in CTI) For this, Jones went to that cherished place in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey for a visit with the ol' doctor, Rudy Van Gelder, and brought some friends with him: Pepper Adams, Hubert Laws, Freddie Hubbard, Eric Gale, Toots Thielemans, Herbie Hancock, Bob James, Grady Tate, Ron Carter, and Milt Jackson among others. Also assisting in the vocal department is singer/songwriter Valerie Simpson (of Ashford & Simpson fame).

Now the music. If you have a short attention span, this album is not for you. The cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" clocks in at 6:10, "Walkin'" at 7:55, and "Hummin'" at 8:05. For the mammoth title track (the best song on the album), he allows himself to explore the depth of the music and shoots for 13:05. "Gula Matari" is a mental movie, and perhaps that's why he easily adapted to motion picture work. He had spent a good part of the 60's being the musical director for Mercury Records, and he did not (nor would not) restrict himself to playing jazz, even though that is the core of what he is as a musician and arranger. There are no short doses here, no time-compressed hits, this is full blown Q at his best.

THE RAMSEY LEWIS TRIO-Upendo Ni Pamoja (Columbia KC 31096)
RAMSEY LEWIS-Don't It Feel Good (Columbia PC 33800)
Upendo Ni Pamoja was one of Lewis' first post-Cadet albums, entering a new world but was he really? The album is known for its cover of War's "Slipping Into Darkness" (which was released as a single, and also features Ocean's "Put Your Hand In The Hand". When you have Cleveland Eaton and Morris Jennings backing you up, you can't go wrong. Lewis knew what felt good.

Don't It Feel Good? Hell yeah. This was Lewis' album after the huge success of 1974's Sun Goddess. It begins with a guitar riff that sounds more like Loggins & Messina's "Your Mama Don't Dance", but the Rhodes and synths tell another, much funkier story. I definitely remember my dad buying this album when I was a kid, even though I have not heard this album in a good thirty years. Yet it was Sun Goddess that I flocked too, maybe it had to do with that woman in gold paint.

For this record Lewis gets a lot of help from Charles Stepney. Some might know him for the work he did with Earth Wind & Fire, but Lewis and Stepney go further than that, when Stepney was an arranger over at Chess, assisting in the works of Rotary Connection and Marlena Shaw. Lewis' drummer for many years was Maurice White, who would eventually head to California and form The Salty Peppers before the genesis of Earth Wind & Fire was born. It should not come as any surprise that the success of Sun Goddess, featuring two songs with EW&F involvement, would lead to an album which sounds like an EW&F album. It's funky, it's soulful, and you got the slow jams. You also have a cover of EW&F's "That's The Way Of The World", along with other priceless jems such as "Fish Bite", "I Dig You", and "Spider Man".

It is a fairly mellow record, and I like it. I think people liked it too much and hoped Lewis would stay in this corner. This is probably why he would eventually record something like Salongo a year later.

ROY MERIWETHER-Preachin' (Capitol ST-243)
Roy Meriwether is still with us, but here he is in the late 1960's on Capitol (lime green variation) offering an album that covers his gospel and jazz roots, with no regrets. Side 1 is all about jubilation, while Side 2 has him recording various songs of the day, including "Ode To Billie Joe", "Little Green Apples", and "This Guy's In Love With Me". He released another album on Capitol that I hope to find in the future.

KEN MUNSON-Super Flute (Paramount PAS-6049)
This looked like a budget release, but it was on Paramount Records (as in the movie studio) so it could not have been that bad. It wasn't. Munson plays jazz with the flute, but within you also have some funk jams, including some nice nuggets for sampling.

SHIRLEY SCOTT-Something (Atlantic SD 1561)
I've seen album covers of hers over the years, but never was moved to take a listen. Now I have to catch up. "Something" is indeed the George Harrison composition performed by him and his Liverpudlian bandmates. Scott, a wizard of the Hammond B-3, almost reinterprets it into a church dirge, moving at a pace that is eerily slow but it doesn't steer you away. "Something", a song which Frank Sinatra called one of the best love songs he had ever heard, became an instant favorite when it was released in late 1969, and one can find versions performed by Herbie Mann, Issac Hayes, Joe Cocker and Shirley Bassey among many others. Scott interprets it different from the others, and if anything shows the power of a good song.

The album also features another Beatles cover, "Because", along with other familiar hits of the time: "Games People Play", "I Want You Back", "Someday We'll Be Together", and "Brand New Me". The album is much more spirited, and her playing has to be heard.

TOM SCOTT-Target (Atlantic 80106-1)
Well, this isn't Honeysuckle Breeze, I think that's the one album a lot of cratediggers would like to find, multiple copies even. This one is an 80's album. I'll be honest, I'm not a fan of Scott's work for most of the late 70's, so I don't know what made me think I was going to like this. It's very poppy, very new wave and electronic. I like Scott's playing, but Target misses its intended destination big time.

---

There was a non-jazz album as well:

LEX DE AZEVEDO-Against A Crooked Sky (Embryo Music EM-1005)
A soundtrack to a movie I had never heard of, but it was a quadraphonic LP so I had to pick it up. Azevedo is a composer and arranger who worked extensively with David Axelrod, but many people believed that Lex De Azevedo and David Axelrod are one and the same man. Not true, although Azevedo's work on this album has a lot of Axelrod's trademark anthemics. Or maybe it was Axelrod who was taking cues from Azevedo.

Some of you may be more familiar with another album Azevedo did, the double LP Saturday's Warrior, kind of a rock opera for the Latter Day Saints.

---

I also found two 45's:
THE BEACH BOYS-The Beach Boys Medley/God Only Knows (Capitol A-5030)
Looking back, it is amazing something like this actually became a hit record. The success of "Stars On 45", created by a group of unknown musicians and singers who recreated Beatles songs over a disco beat, made labels believe that they could do the same thing. Or maybe not.

Maybe labels did not like all of this new wave crap, and felt that it was time to restore music to what it once was. Eh, I don't know.

Either way, someone at Capitol Records decided it would be an interesting idea to create a medley out of Beach Boys songs and release it as a single. It was the actual recordings, spliced together. I remember this song being played A LOT, and in a way that starteda a trend of other medleys by other artists on other labels. Capitol would try this idea again with their other big group, The Beatles, and create "The Beatles Movie Medley" in honor of a compilation they had put together, Reel Movie, to honor the music found in Beatles films. That received airplay too.

These days, I don't hear "The Beach Boys Medley" too much.

Adam Wind-You Don't Need It/Old Funky Song (Valane V-1918)
I bought this for a few reasons. One, the B-side was called "Old Funky Song". Even if it wasn't funky, it would be an interesting listen. Two, it was a regional record, in this case from Kent, Washington. Three, a Leroy Bell was listed as a co-writer for the A-side. Was this the same Leroy Bell of Bell & James fame ("Livin' It Up (Friday Night)") fame? Fourth, I thought it was cool that someone who bought this 45 cared enough to write their name on it, and also what grade they were in when they bought it, in this case 7th Grade. It was someone's personal favorite, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

Both songs are of the pop/rock variety, sounding a bit like Little River Band with a bit of mid-70's Santana. No date of release, but I wish I was an executive producer for a film studio, just so I would be able to place this in a film and give music like this some exposure.

BTW - "Old Funky Song" is not funky, but a good listen.

(UPDATE @ 1:59pm: I did a quick search for "Adam Wind" and they were a band, featuring one Leroy Bell on vocals. One look at their photos and it is definitely the Bell of Bell & James fame, who still calls the Seattle area his home. The funny thing is, I recently reviewed Bell's new album for Okayplayer, and now I'm getting a chance to hear a bit of his pre-disco roots.)

Adam Wind-You Don't Need It (3.1mb)
Adam Wind-Old Funky Song (3.8mb)

Opinion: Finding A Misplaced Album

This is not about trying to hunt down an album that I don't have. It is a different situation. My fellow record collectors and vinyl junkies, understand my pain for a moment.

Last night I was searching around online and one thing lead to another, and I wanted to hear an album again. I know I have a copy because I bought it and listened to it a few minutes ago. It's a jazz album. My jazz section is alphabetized by label, which unfortunately I have not undone yet because I'm a lazy ass.

To make a long story short, I've been in my record room for the last two hours and I still can't find it. I honestly don't know where it is. Did I let it slip inbetween some hip-hop? Is it in the Hawaiian section? Is it in my "crap" crates? My box of assorted albums that I haven't bothered filing? No, no, no, and no.

Now, I can go to eBay or GEMM and do a search, buy what I want. That's the ease of record collecting these days, I don't have to travel for the hunt. But is that the hunt?

That's not the point of this post. The point is... well I really don't have a point. I have no idea where my album is. I'm sure if I buy the album again (and I probably will), I will find it when I'm not looking.

Yes' "Fragile" gets the audiophile treatment not once, but TWICE!!!

Thrift and used record store junkies, we have all seen Yes' Fragile album many times over, and I'm sure we've bought a copy many times over. Countless LP variations, maybe on 8-track, cassette, or in this digital age we even sprung for the DVD-Audio with surround sound and high resolution mixes. Atlantic also briefly came out with a version in their short-lived 24-karat gold CD series

Now it's about to get another audiophile treatment, and in what may be a first, it is being remastered in two different ways by two different record labels.

Respected audio mastering engineer Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray have done a remaster for the version that will be released on vinyl only on the Analogue Productions label (which you can pre-order right now through the Acoustic Sounds website). This will definitely be a treat for not only Yes fans, but for those who have enjoyed the remasterings Hoffman has done in the last 20 years.

But that's not the only version coming out.

Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab are also coming out with their remastered version on the label's trademark 24K gold CD series. For those without turntables, you will want to hear what may become one of the definitive versions of this album. (You can pre-order your copy now by clicking to the MFSL website.

Hoffman is known for the CD's he mastered for the now-defunct DCC label, and there are only a few instances when DCC and MFSL released their own versions of the same album. In this case, it is the first time two versions of the same album are being released at the same time. Audiophile and music junkies are going crazy over this right now, wondering which one to buy and knowing that in the end they will buy both.

Let's hope Close To The Edge is next.

Thrift Store Adventures: August 26, 2006, Pasco, Washington

It is sad, my friends, when it takes a fricken month for me to update this blog. I have not escaped to the center of the Earth. I've been a bit busy with life, writing, and recording my forthcoming album. I did make a visit to the Goodwill in Richland, Washington, where I found some Japanese pressings of albums by Roberta Flack, Helen Reddy, and Anne Murray. No Led Zeppelin, no King Crimson, but Killing Me Softly is one of my favorite Flack albums, and Murray does a cover of "Put Your Hand In The Band" that has a nice break in the intro, so all is not lost.

I had intended to write about it here, but spaced out and forgot. Poor excuse, but that's how it is. And what it is, is now, a new adventure.

---

I went to the St. Vincent de Paul in Pasco, WA, not expecting anything. However, there were two new boxes right in front of the record section and I immediately saw the face of Duke Ellington. It wasn't the Duke himself, but a tribute concert done, but with one jazz album there had to be a few others. There were, and it was nice to see new records there, since most of the albums in the racks have been there for the last 15 years.

Dick Jurgens & His Orchestra-Here's That Band Again Today (Flying Dutchman Amsterdam AM-12011)
I bought this because I saw the Flying Dutchman logo, and it was on their Amsterdam subsidiary. Also, I looked at the label and BOOM, it was a pressing on Atlantic Records. Had to buy it (the promo sticker, used by Atlantic during this period, was also a clue).

Well, I'm listening to it now and I had hoped it would be some out there jazz. It is more jazz/pop and definitely would be something my grandfather and Omama would love dancing to. However, it is nice to hear something like this, music that was popular before R&B, blues, and rock'n'roll messed up the youth. The covers of "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" and "Close To You" are very nice. As the liner notes say, this music will take some of you back to teh years before television, before radio almost, and certainly before a lot of us were around at all".



James Last-Goodtimes (Polydor 24-4512)
Normally I would get adventurous and buy everything this guy has ever made, because I have yet to find anything worthy of a second listen. This man was almost as prolific as Sizzla Kalonji, recording on loads of labels, including K-Tel.

This album has no date, but I'm going to take a guess and say 1971 or 1972, if I am to judge from the songs and look of the photos. I think this was recorded at the height of all of the Godspell and Hair phenomenons, because each song features a group of singers harmonizing at their best. It's not awful, but for me it's not something I would want to hear regularly. Or irregularly. There are covers of "My Sweet Lord", "I Hear You Knocking", "Knock Three Times", "Neanderthal Man", "When I'm Dead And Gone", "Ape Man", and "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window".

It is this Beatles cover that I find a bit funny. "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window" is a part of the Abbey Road medley on Side 2, and is a brief song. I do know Joe Cocker did a great version of it, but that's Joe Cocker. What James Last and his group of singers try to do is make it anthemic. It doesn't quite work. Then again, I tend to be a Beatle elitist at times, and I don't want to hear verses repeated over and over as if it was meant to be a big pop song. It's a small part of a medley, leave it at that. I think I may have to do some research on James Last, to find how what his deal was.

To be honest, the musicianship is great and there IS that level of cheese that DOES make me want to hear more. But I'm not going to be on an avid search for his entire discography.

(MP3: James Last-She Came In Through The Bathroom Window)



The Newport All Stars-Tribute To Duke (BASF 20717)
At first I thought I had found a Duke Ellington album, but instead this was a show created for performance by The Newport All-Stars, recorded in 1969 and released after Ellington's death three years later. This one features Red Norvo, Barney Kessel, and Kenny Burrell, along with other musicians who create some incredible music. It may not be the Duke, but it is done with him in mind and I'm all for that.

Buddy Rich-A Different Drummer (RCA/Victor LSP-4593)
I don't have any Buddy Rich albums in my collection, odd considering how much I am a fan of the drums. I've borrowed a few from the library during high school, and I guess I haven't taken time to explore his discography either. After hearing this, I think I may start hunting down his records.

The Rich I'm familiar with is from the 60's, when he was doing battles with everybody. This one, released in 1971, has a big band backing. What made me buy it, outside from the fact that it was Buddy Rich, was because it was called A Different Drummer, which comes from a poem by Henry David Thoreau, but was also the subject of a song by Les Crane (look on the B-side of the "Desiderata" 45). I bought that Crane 45 because of that song (I wasn't sure what "Desiderata" was until I played it), and for awhile I played it on my radio show since I felt the poem described me in a way ("If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears A Different Drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away").

Anyway, Buddy Rich. I could only play Side 1 on my Vestax portable, as the record is slightly warped, making Side 2 impossible to play without it warbling. There's a nice drum/percussion segment in "Paul's Tune", and his cover of "Superstar" (from Jesus Christ Superstar) is really good.

(A Japanese CD of A Different Drummer is available through CD Universe.)


Dionne Warwicke-Just Being Myself (Warner Bros. BS 2658)
Note the spelling of her name on this one.

Her Warner Bros. period is not as popular as what came before (Scepter) and after (Arista), so one can listen to this period with an open mind. I prefer this era. It is a Holland-Dozier-Holland production, so it's sounding like something from the Hot Wax catalog. The album opens with "You're Gonna Need Me", and in some tape vault somewhere there is a version of this where the band gets even funkier. "I Think You Need Love" may be familiar to fans of rapper Jim Jones.

This album was recently released on CD for the first time this year, but it was nice to find the vinyl, and a white label promo to boot.

(MP3: Dionne Warwicke-I Think You Need Love)

(You can order this album on CD through CD Universe.)



Various Artists-Guitar Rock (Time Life Music OP-4521)
I'll most likely put this on eBay. 3LP's of classic guitar rock, still in the original cellophone, and made in 1990. And hey look, Joe Cocker's "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window" is on it. Also on here: James Gang's "Funk #49", Cream's "Sunshine Of Your Love", The Allman Brothers Band's "Whipping Post", and... Elton John's "The Bitch Is Back". I know that has a nice guitar riff, but is Elton John considered "guitar rock"?

Thrift Store Adventures: July 25, 2006: Kennewick, Washington

There's a deal here where a certain road determines whether or not one is in the city of Kennewick or Richland. I visited Value Village yesterday and to me it's Kennewick. But ask a Richland resident and they may say otherwise. Nonetheless, it's the only Value Village in the Tri-Cities.

I hadn't been here in ages, because the last few times I was there the selection was bad. I went in and believe it or not, they had both 1962-1966 and 1967-1970 by The Beatles. I didn't bother picking it up, I'm curious if they gave each one a "collector's" price.

What did catch my eye was a record affiliated with an artist whose work I've come to admire over the years. If any of you have read my previous entries of Thrift Store Adventures, then you may know who this person is. If not, let me explain. If you go to a thrift store, yard or garage sales long enough, you will see some of the same records by the same artists over and over. Some have status, others have none. Some continue to get airplay today, others have been obscured in time. A few of these obscurities have been praised for some of their unique quirks by a number of writers throughout the years. I often refer to a great fanzine from the early 90's called Breakfast Without Meat, put together by Gregg Turkington. It was he who made me interested in such curiosities as 101 Strings and Dora Hall.

Then there's Rod McKuen. You Thrift Store Adventures regulars can skip the next paragraph or so.

In my search for records, I would often see multiple copies of The Sea, The Earth, and The Sky, a triad of recordings that became some of his biggest sellers. I guess for a lot of people, McKuen's work was seen as old, dated, "not good", or even "cheesy". Maybe due to my tolerance and occasional tolerance of "bad taste", I had to check these records out for myself. These three albums were primarily spoken word. A few featured the voice of McKuen himself, but sometimes it would be the voice of others. The words would be poems, essays, "spoken word", basically waxing poetic about the elements and romance. It showed that McKuen was a hopeless romantic, but also someone who wasn't afraid to show the pain and suffering of life and love.

What I also liked was the arrangements of the music, the production, just a huge wash of sound. It was the late 60's, it was on Warner Bros., and people still arranged songs, did scores, and used such words as "lush orchestration". It was big and bold, not unlike a score done for a movie, and I believe some of the musicians used for his albums were those that worked on films for Warner Bros. Somehow I was hooked.

I will be honest and say that McKuen was not on my "must have" mental list. Once I had heard his three albums, I started noticing other titles pop up frequently, not just on Warner Bros. but on Epic and RCA Victor. Then other labels. How many records did this man create? I had to know. I bought them when I found them. I had found In Search Of Eros on Epic, and it had taken me by surprise. It was a little more than "puppy love", it was a bit more "adult". Not pornographic or anything, but a lot more than talking about seeing images of togetherness in the sky.

Eventually I heard him sing. At the time I did not know he was a singer, I assumed that his albums were all spoken word. I'll be honest again, it was a unique voice. It was raspy, in a Reuben Kincaid sort of way. It wasn't a great or spectacular voice, but it was his. As I began to buy more records, sometimes he shined, other times the emotion would take over.

It got to a point where I became an actual fan. It wasn't just the spoken word or the singing, but also the arrangements, and the nature of the recordings. If one takes a serious listen to his work, they will get a lot out of it. I think I now have over 30 albums with his involvement, whether it's under his own name, or albums with his involvement. I think I may have a third of his discography. As of yesterday, I've added another to the McKuen box:

The Stanyan Strings
As I Love My Own
(Stanyan)
His track record was impressive enough to where he was given his own boutique label, Stanyan. On this album, it was the music of McKuen played by the group who had backed him up on a number of his records. McKuen himself is credited solely with "whistling". When I saw this at Value Village, I was like "oh, a McKuen record I had not seen before". It had a couple on the front cover, embracing, nude but with the woman's back to the camera, and from the chest up. I opened up the gatefold and WHOA NELLY! The gatefold revealed the man and woman, from the back, head to toe, no clothes. OH SNAP! Was the record in nice condition? Oh yes. Immediate purchase. In the CD section was a McKuen compilation on Laserlight. I didn't pick it up, only because with McKuen, it's vinyl/8-tracks or nothing.

Now at home, I pull out the record and I discover there's a poster inside. WHOA NELLY again, it's a poster of the nude couple. I'm someone who was raised in the 70's so there were a few hippie ideals around. I guess that time in history where I wasn't able to experience it myself has always been a source of inspiration, but I can't help but laugh and wonder who would put up a poster like that? Hep swingers? Orgy enthusiasts? Pakalolo brownie chefs?

These records can be listened to for simply listening, but they were definitely mood enhancers. The actual title is listed on the cover as I Love Your Body As I Love My Own, but the emphasis is on As I Love My Own. Not sure if that was a bit of tongue in cheek humor from McKuen himself, but WHOA NELLY, THERE'S A NAKED COUPLE ON THE COVER!

How is the music? Very good. There is something about these records, whether it's McKuen, or Don Costa or an endless list of composers, arrangers, and conductors, that seems to be... let me put it this way, there's a shortage of this. Maybe because I didn't experience this albums first hand, but there seemed to be an abundance of these types of records. You can find Percy Faith everywhere too. I find them interesting from a historical, musical perspective. This was the music that made the world go 'round, and people wanted it because they wanted good music. Yesterday's big record purchase of the week is today's bargain bin discovery. For 30 to 40 minutes, I revive the sleeping dream.

Thrift Store Adventures: July 22, 2006: Hermiston, Oregon

I need to update this page a bit more, I apologize to those who may have had high hopes. Unfortunately this entry is not going to be too encouraging either.

The only think that was of value was seeing the price of gas when I got into Oregon. $2.95 a gallon. There was a station that sold diesel for much cheaper, but you had to have a card.

I went to Goodwill today, in the hopes of finding something. After driving 30 or so miles you'd think there would be one good record right? NOPE! But I did make it out with a Lynn Anderson quadraphonic 8-track, which I may put up on eBay.

As I was heading home, I went to this area where there are three antique stores. There was a Merle Haggard 45 on Capitol, but I thought eh, I don't need it. Second store was fill of nicknacks, so I avoided it and went to the third one. There was a nice direct drive turntable, but part of the arm looked funny to me. Only $10, so maybe it wasn't as bad. Quite a few albums, a few good ones although the vinyl looked shot. I was originally going to make it out with an album by Dennis Coffey and it looked like your typical thrift store run-down record. I go to the cashier and the lady says "you did see how much this was, right?" Eight dollars for a record that was in VG condition and a cover that wasn't too good looking either. I told her I didn't want it.

On top of that, it was HOT AS FUCK. Goodwill was air conditioned, but the antique stores? Fat man in an antique store? Yeah, I was sweating alright, and not a good sweat.

r.i.p. Syd Barrett

He and the rest of Pink Floyd were a major influence on my music, in terms of wanting to take it higher, and then go further.

News Article: Indie Stores Turn To Used CD's

From The Oregonian.

My opinion? I still buy CD's, and I still buy vinyl. I support new and used CD's.

New Video: Bukkake

File under reggaeton. File under corny like feces.

New Music: Ludacris

A lot of people have been talking about it, so here it is.

Ludacris-War With God (2mb)

New Music: Lionel Richie

Remember when Nicole Richie was semi hot? Now she's semi rot. Hell, she's not not half of anything. Half a pound? Eh.

Lionel Richie - I Call It Love (4.75mb)

News: Before The Music Dies (movie)

I was just made aware of this movie and I hope to be able to get a chance to see it. Most likely it will not play here in the Tri-Cities but... this is something I have to see.

News: Beyonce Holding Rehearsals for "All Female Touring Band"

I posted this in the forums at Okayplayer. I am not a Beyonce fan, I prefer Kelly Rowland (in terms of voice and looks). I do, however, like the fact that she's going to hire a band, and an all-female band at that. I would go just to see the band, but would have to suffer through... well, Beyonce. Maybe Hell's Belles should back her up.

New Music: Joe Budden

Joe Budden - Stuntin' (Dirty Version) (5.65mb)

Thrift Store Adventures: June 1, 2006, Richland, Washington

I got an e-mail about a local thrift store closing down, and how everything would be 50 percent off. Their music selection has gone down quite a bit, but I decided to take a chance.

I make it to Thrift Rak and the entire store is a mess. A few records, and some 8-tracks. Records were all crap, but one of the 8-tracks as an album by Michael Bloomfield and another which was a bootleg, with what appeared to be Creedence Clearwater Revival on the cover, but music and songs unrelated to them. I should have bought them, but I did not.

I wasn't going to check out the Goodwill in Richland, and perhaps I shouldn't have. Records again were crap, but there were loads of classical CD's. If I had more money to play with, I probably would have picked them up.

New Music: L.L. Cool J

L.L. Cool J featuring Lloyd Bands & Hot Rod - Bump This (5.19mb)

Thrift Store Adventures: May 27, 2006, Goodwill, Pasco, Washington

HERBIE MANN
The Evolution Of Mann
(Atlantic)

My dad made me a fan of Herbie Mann, as he was a fan. Through him playing Memphis Underground and Push Push, I would eventually listen to Mann on my own terms. I have some of his albums, keyword being some, because Mann recorded A LOT of records. His Atlantic work is what I prefer, but he also recorded for a few other labels too.

The Evolution Of Mann is a 2LP compilation released in 1972, and it looks like it was released around the time Mann's label, Embryo, would be closing shop.

It was nice to go to a thrift store again after being away for too long, and finding something as good as this. That, and the usual family church records.

New Music: The Wreckers

What kind of bullshit is The Wreckers? A new country super-duo with Michelle Branch and someone else. Okay. Pfftt.

News: Vinyl Outsells CD's In Some Markets

MY COMMENT: DAMN RIGHT!!!

Link: (courtesy of TheBusinessOnline.com).

Digging In The Magazine Box: RCA Victor 45's

This clipping was taken from the Steve Hoffman boards. Apparently all this time I've been going to thrift stores and seeing certain RCA/Victor 45's on colored vinyl, there was a reason for it. It wasn't so much a mystery as it was something unknown, at least to me.

Digging In The Magazine Box: Little Richard

News: Cyril Neville Speaks Out In Support Of The Crescent City

Cyril Neville is an incredible singer and musician. He comes from a family that has made the music of New Orleans richer, and in the last twenty years when someone talked about New Orleans music, it's safe to say The Neville Brothers were part of that conversation.

Following the devastation of New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina, it doesn't take anyone within the city limits to see that recovery efforts have been piss poor from day one. We all saw the news reports, and we continue to read stories of how one of the liveliest cities in the United States has almost become flatline. Cyril Neville isn't about to let life go, and he speaks out about it in a great article printed in The Austin Chronicle. You can read the article here:

http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2006-04-28/music_feature.html.

New Music: Wing's "Back In Black"

Unfortunately I don't have this CD single or the full track, but here is an excerpt of Wing's cover of AC/DC's "Back In Black".

Opinion: The Hollywood-ness Of Music

Question: How come there's so much Hollywood-type bullshit in record stores? Sorry, "musical entertainment stores". Wait again, "that place with all the dead media". Eh, you know what I mean.

People love Kidz Bop. Parents are raging in stores to buy the biggest sensation, the High School Musical soundtrack. You have the second coming of Devo, but in the form of a group of kids calling themselves DEV2.0.

Head over to Billboard and there's a link to a group of girls whom I once saw on TV while turning channels. They call themselves Girl Authority and they are doing covers of various old and new songs, including Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl". Kind of odd, hearing 12 year old girls doing a song about not being someone who wouldn't want to "holla back" at a man. Not as bad as seeing a young girl in Shawnna's new video for "Gimme Some Head", but that's another story another time.

Explain to me how a lot of this Hollywood bullshit music can become huge hits, while real people who make real music, be it hip-hop, funk, country, jazz, gospel, or Hawaiian, have to struggle ten times as hard? You have all of this phony bologna emo-metal bands whom people would have kicked in the nuts 25 years ago because they were poseurs, and now they RAWK!?!?! To whom, to people who don't know any better?

Lindsay Lohan and Ashlee Simpson have made not one but two albums. Both went gold. Keep in mind, 500,000 people went out of their way to buy it. Meanwhile, Cassandra Wilson has a new album but is a slow but steady seller only because she's not young and a friend of Kanye West.

Jessica Simpson was once lost in the Britney Spears/Christina Aguilera shuffle and now all she has to do is pucker her ass, show off her horse mouth, and she's a success? What the fuck is going on here?

We're in 2006, and there are more methods than every to buy and obtain music, legally and illegally. The MP3 rage made it possible to not only get the songs you want, but to be able to find music that was either impossible to find or too expensive to buy. Yet who is at #1?

I don't think I would complain so much if it was good songs, but most of the songs are shit. Bring back good music.

I take that back, bring back the record industry I grew up with before it got corrupt, before it was taken over by people who could care less about the music.

The Beatles: Cirque du Soleil

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge Beatles fan. There has been word about some new music on the horizon, but in Beatles terms that could mean "by 2012". There's also word that all of their albums will be newly remastered, which pleases a number of people.

But what to make of this?
http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/CirqueDuSoleil/en/showstickets/love/intro/intro.htm

This is an official site for a new show uniting the music of The Beatles with the Cirque du Soleil? To me, this is just wrong. Dead wrong.

Thrift Store Adventures: March 27, 2006, Richland, Washington

I normally don't visit thrift stores once a month, but life can be that way sometimes. But with a few dollars in my pocket I asked myself this question: McChicken or records? I chose the latter.

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I visited Goodwill in Richland, Washington and lately the selection has been junk. But there were a few things worth picking up.

Hubert Laws-Carnegie Hall (CTI)
This is a live album I had never seen or heard of before, but this was Hubert Laws, and on CTI. The album also features Ron Carter, Bob James, and Billy Cobham among others. It's an interesting approach too, the album consists of two songs. That's it, two side-length tracks, with a classical piece getting the jazz treatment, and a medley of two songs (Chick Corea's "Windows" and James Taylor's "Fire And Rain") getting the classical treatment. There are some amazing moments, and anytime you hear James' do his thing on the electric piano, you know it's going to be a ride. Trippy.

(This has not been released on CD in the U.S., but a Japanese import is available through CD Universe)

Siddhadas And Freddie-Morning Star (S.Y.D.A. Foundation)
Two friends who became a part of the Krishna faith decide to celebrate their guru with an album of acoustic folk songs. It is amazing to see how many people in the 70's did albums like these, not only custom/private presses but even Pete Townshend, Carlos Santana & John McLaughin had albums for their gurus. Nothing too amazing on this, but the songs are nice.

Clyde Beavers-That's You (And What's Left Of Me)/Old Tree (Hickory)
I had taken a chance with this. Yes, it's on a Nashville label so almost by default it should be country. Plus, the artist is named Clyde Beavers. Being much more of a soul and funk fan, it is safe to say a soul singer could not get away with being called Clyde Beavers. Sly Beavers... maybe, but some double entendre would be involved.

In this case, it's country. No date given but most likely from the early or mid-1960's. The A-side is a glider, but the B-side had a bit more pep to it. Makes me wish I knew how to play a guitar.

Clyde Beavers-Old Tree (2.35mb)

Railroad Sounds-Last Train To Waterloo (Quadraphonic) (Warner Bros.)
This was a quad 8-track, I had to buy it, even though I have no means of hearing it. This was an album made by Brad Miller in 1972, consisting of nothing but the sound of trains. If the Miller name is familiar, it should be. He had a hand in the creation of the Mystic Moods Orchestra (later shortened to Mystic Moods, and signed to Warner Bros.). Miller was an audiophile and would often feature natural sounds on the Mystic Moods records, from birds to rain to random train sounds. He decided to just release an album of trains, and he was allowed to do so. On a major label no less. Miller would eventually form his own audiophile label, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MFSL), and he was very successful in that venture. Miller passed away in 1998, but not without leaving behind a collection of records and compact discs that helped enhance the listening experience for anyone who wanted to hear more.

Just the thought of hearing railroad sounds in surround sound... THAT'S HOT!!! I'm also a fan of sound effect records, which can be interesting.

Box Of 45's: Miles Davis

Miles Davis is now in the Rock'N'Roll Hall Of Fame, which might be odd for some considering he was known as a jazz musician. Yet any Miles fan will tell you that by the late 1960's, he was changing his approach, wanting to try out new things while wanting to bring his music to a wider (or some might say "whiter") audience. According to many articles and interviews, he loved the appeal of Sly & The Family Stone and Jimi Hendrix, and seeing himself with almost twenty years of music behind him, maybe he felt what he was doing was outdated, and that could have made him outdated too by mainstream standards. Jazz was no longer "the most popular music", yet Miles knew that he could easily turn on those goofy hippies if he tried to move forward with something new.

That first sense of new was heard in In A Silent Way, but the world was not prepared for his next album, the immortal Bitches Brew. It brought forth a new type of jazz: fusion. It had been explored a number of times by everyone from Ornette Coleman to Roland Kirk, but this also featured some outside influences, namely rock and soul. It was a double album that sold like crazy, a double album which featured songs with durations of 15 minutes or more. It was a marathon, and either you were with him or you weren't. No inbetween, and Miles probably didn't care if you weren't with him.

Bitches Brew sold millions, a rare feat in itself for jazz. Not many jazz albums sell over 100,000, yet alone 500,000 or a million, but to think that people bought that album in the same way people bought Norah Jones' Come Away With Me is, in perspective, amazing.

What's even more amazing is that Columbia Records made an attempt to market the album to a younger audience by releasing a 45 of "Miles Runs The Voodoo Down" and "Spanish Key". On the album, "Miles Run The Voodoo Down" goes for 14:01 while "Spanish Key" runs at 17:32. When you locked into the album, you were ready for anything. The single for it, however, seems to pick a random section of each song and then someone said "okay, that's the single". Really? This wasn't an edit of "So What", or something fairly simple as "Someday My Prince Will Come", these were songs that were meant to be listened to as a whole. It's easy to create 45 edits of songs like Rare Earth's "Get Ready", Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida", or anything with a traditional verse/chorus/verse format, but this was free form jazz.

In truth, nothing is impossible, but this was not the kind of music that was meant to be heard at three minutes or less. With FM radio being the way "true music fans" heard music, I am sure the album got a lot of play. Yet it's hard for me to imagine a time when someone could fit "Miles Runs The Voodoo Down" right between Freda Payne's "Band Of Gold" and Ringo Starr's "It Don't Come Easy". Then again in 1971, radio was like that, nothing was impossible.

Miles Davis - Miles Runs The Voodoo Down (Single Edit) (3.8mb)
Miles Davis - Spanish Key (Single Edit) (3.8mb)

Box Of 45's: Larry Coryell

Larry Coryell is a jazz guitarist who may be known these days for his smooth jazz stylings. In the early 1970's however he was known for his fusion work, up there with John McLaughlin. He released one album in 1971 on the Flying Dutchman label (in the U.S. via Atlantic), Barefoot Boy, at the same time Miles Davis was unleashing his Bitches Brew. It was a very unique time for jazz, as some artists were having crossover success in the rock world. Jazz guitarists were becoming heroes in their own right, and Coryell was one of those that many were talking about.

In recent years, the Barefoot Boy album has become sought after not only by jazz fusion fans, but also by hip-hop cratediggers who discovered that one of the songs on the album was sampled by a well known group from Los Angeles, the same group that also sampled the Scratch 45 that was in the first installment of my Box Of 45's section.

It is an amazing album, three tracks in total, including the side-long track on side two, "Call To The Higher Consciousness", which came from the teachings of his guru, Sri Chinmoy (Who guitarist Pete Townshend also sought guidance through him in the early 1970's). So it comes as a surprise to me that Flying Dutchman, or at least Atco, went out of their way to release a 45 for two of the songs here. "The Great Escape" is a Coryell original, while "Gypsy Queen" is a Gabor Szabo composition that became famous a year before by Santana when they teamed it up with their cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Black Magic Woman". "Gypsy Queen", in its released form, is just over eleven minutes, while "The Great Escape" is about nine. In 45 rpm form, both are just under three minutes. It's hard to imagine any radio stations, especiall AM sstations, giving this devoted airplay, when jazz fusion was a bit more sophisticated than the average pop song. It seems they just listened to a portion of a song and said "okay, let's begin... HERE! La la la and okay, the clock is almost to three minutes so let's fade right... THERE!"

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As a collector, I'm a huge fan of the Atlantic label and all of its subsidiaries. Atlantic distributed Flying Dutchman briefly in the early 1970's, and at this point Led Zeppelin was bringing in more money for Atlantic than Aretha Franklin. Atlantic were also about to have massive success with The Allman Brothers Band's Live At Fillmore East, it was a different time and it seemed everyone was progressing forward with their music. While the Barefoot Boy album might be considered "on the fringe" by jazz purists, it is more interesting that someone even considered to release a 45 in support of this, when most people who were attracted to this were in praise of the album format. If anything, a nice curio, radio edit style.

Larry Coryell-The Great Escape (Single Version) (4.1mb)
Larry Coryell-Gypsy Queen (Single Version) (4mb)

Box Of 45's: 1776

1776 were a rock band from Detroit who came out with a self-titled album in 1971. From the album on Palladium Records was a cover of an old gospel song called "Jesus Is Just Alright", which was released as a single. However, it was The Doobie Brothers' hit version that most people are familiar with.

Here is the B-side, an original track called "Memories". It's a bit of power pop with an emphasis on Crosby, Stills & Nash-like vocals, with an emphasis on Graham Nash.

On a slight historical note, there had been rumors recently that "Jesus Is Just Alright" on the A-side featured the vocals of Bob Seger, a fellow Detroit resident. It was proven to be just that, a rumor, as Seger had no involvement with 1776.

1776-Memories (6.8.mb)

Digging In The Magazine Box: Ice Cube vs. NWA

There was a time when Public Enemy ruled hip-hop. Then the West Coast wanted to get some shine. N.W.A's time had arrived. Were N.W.A a threat to the fabric of America, a threat to the New York-centric mentality of rap music, or all of the above? Hip-hop had always been about NYC and the celebration of the boroughs, yet here was a group from a section of Los Angeles who were wanting to be known for their boom bap.

Attention towards NWA was at an all time high, and people knew Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, MC Ren, and DJ Yella (as well as Arabian Prince for you diehards) as much as they knew their favorite pop, rock, or metal bands.

Looking back at the era, this was when the bubble had burst, rap music was no longer just about New York City and a few "outside areas". The music was worldwide, and so would be its contributors. At what seemed to be the height of their success, Oshea Jackson left the group. That's what this interview is about, the departure of Ice Cube, and the status of N.W.A. This was taken from the April 1990 issue of Spin magazine.

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Hounded by the FBI and acclaimed as the new, new Sex Pistols, NWA's rise has been rapid and sensational. But now that chief spokesman and lyricist Ice Cube has left the band, has the soul and intelligence of these Niggers With Attitude gone with him?

HANGING TOUCH
Article by Frank Owen
Photo by Dorothy Low



The numbers alone are impressive. Both NWA's Straight Outta Compton and NWA member EazyE's solo album Eazy-Duz-It have sold over one and a half million units each without radio play, MTV support or major record company promotion.

Equally impressive is the $650,000 that NWA grossedon tour last year, of which manager Jerry Heller took $130,000. Ice Cube, meanwhile, whom many regard as the group's chief spokesman, went home with $23,000. When Ice Cube asked about profits from NWA merchandise being sold on the tour he was told it was none of his business. That was about par for the course, according to the man who either wrote or co-wrote approximately half of the raps on the Eazy Eand NWA albums. This significant contribution to over three million records sold has so far earned Ice Cube $32,000.

Now that the disgruntled rapper has left the band, the question arises, has the soul and intelligence of NWA walked out of the door with him?

SPIN: Why did you leave NWA?
Cube: Financial reasons, man. I wasn't getting paid. When you contribute to the sale of three million albums, you expect more than $32,000. Jerry Heller [NWA manager] lives in a half million-dollar house in West Lake, and I'm still living at home with my mother. Jerry's driving a Corvette and a Mercedes Benz and I've got a Suzuki Side Kick. You know what I mean. Jerry's making all the money, and I'm not. Jerry has no creative input into the group: he just makes all the fucked-up decisions and gets all the fucking money.

What do you mean "fucked-up decisions"?
Like refusing to do the Jesse Jackson chat show because there was no money involved. Jesse Jackson wanted to do an interview with NWA for his new show "Voices Of America." The topic of the show was the controversial music that kids are listening to today. There's no way on this planet that NWA shouldn't have been on that show. With the exception of Public Enemy, there's no group more controversial than NWA. We should have been on that show, getting nationwide exposure and getting people on our side.

When you turn down something like that, you've gotta think that the man doesn't want it for the group. He's just in it for the short term so that he can make as much money as quickly as possible.

Jerry told me that one of the reasons you left NWA was that your publicist, Pat Charbonet, was filling your head with notions that you were a big star and you would be even bigger on your own.
The only thing Pat Charbonet told me was to get a lawyer. They got mad when I did that. Jerry told me that lawyers were made to cause trouble. But lawyers only cause trouble if there's trouble to cause.

What about the future?
I'm doing a solo album with Priority Records. [Public Enemy's] Chuck 0 and [PE producer] Hank Shocklee are going to produce it. It's going to be called America's Most Wanted. There's gonna be tracks like "Endangered Species." Young black teenagers have now been added to the endangered species list.

There's another track called "Turn Off The Radio," which is about how black radio still doesn't play a fair share of hip hop. NWA has gone platinum with little help from black radio. That song is telling kids, be your own programmer-turn off the radio and make your own tapes.

I was talking to Luke Skyywalker [of The 2 Live Crew] recently about the media's moral panic about supposedly obscene rap lyrics. He said that as long as hip hop remains solely a black thing, it could be as dirty as it wanted: it's only when white kids start apeing black styles that the authorities get concerned.
Yeah! It's like with the gang problem in Los Angeles. As long as the gangs stay in South Central Los Angeles, the authorities don't mind. But when they move into Beverly Hills and Westwood-that's when it's a problem, that's when the authorities kick in, that's when the police come down to South Central and harass every black man in a T-shirt.

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"We-tried to settle this dispute diligently," says Ice Cube's lawyer, Michael Ashburn. "We bent over backwards to try and make a financial agreement that was acceptable to both sides. I was surprised how indifferent they were when it came to settling this dispute. It was like Jerry Heller didn't care whether Ice Cube - someone who unarguably had made a major contribution to the group - left or stayed. Ice Cube would still be with NWA if our very reasonable financial demands had been met. They gave us a statement showing that Ice Cube had been advanced $32,700. He's owed at least another $120,000, plus his publishing royalties, which he hasn't received a cent on so far. Ice Cube wanted to continue with NWA, but he just wasn't getting paid."

"Jerry Heller says I encouraged Ice Cube to leave NWA," says publicist Pat Charbonet. "That's the first time I've been accused of inciting slaves to riot."

"The real reason that Ice Cube left NWA was that he was incredibly jealous of the notoriety and success of Eazy E," says Jerry Heller. "He wanted to be Eazy E. He was jealous because not only is Eazy a key member of NWA with a successful solo career, he's also the president of his own record company. Eazy Eis a m­jor star and a successful businessman. Ice Cube isn't."

A white-haired music biz veteran with an abrasive manner, Jerry Heller is an unlikely choice as the manager of a hip-hop group. In his heyday he ran Heller For Show, a booking agency that handled tours by top acts such as Elton John, Pink Floyd, REO Speedwagon, and ELO. By the 80s his star was in decline.

In October of 1987 he met Eazy E, a former drug dealer with bags of cash and two very talented friends - Dr. Ore and Yella - who would become the NWA production team. Together they set up Ruthless Records and scored a big pop hit with the corny electro hip hop jam "Supersonic" by JJFad - released on the associated label Dream Team.' Heller tells the story of how, on receipt of a six-figure check from Atlantic (the major record company that licensed the song from Ruthless), he took Eazy to the bank and taught him how to open a checking account.

Today, Ruthless is living largely, as one of the most successful hip hop companies around, with a roster that includes (as well as NWA and Eazy) such new signings as Above The Law ("They're pimps and players," says Eazy, "rolling and clocking ho's"); New York female rappers Bitches With Problems ("They make NWA look like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir," jokes Jerry Heller); R&B Diva, Michel'le ("She talks live a five year old and sings like a thirteen year old," says Eazy), and The D.O.C., whose rapping career is undiminished by a recent car accident in which he flew through the back window and crushed his vocal chords.

"We've got the makings of a company that's going to be to the 90s what Berry Gordy's Motown was to the 60s," says Jerry Heller. "And the creative nucleus is Dr. Ore, Yella and Eazy." It's difficult to imagine Eazy Ebehind the trigger of an AK-47. A slight figure with processed hair and the brattish demeanor of someone to whom success has come too quickly, Eazy is inevitably described as an angry young black man from the ghetto. But in reality Eazy is the type of guy who only really gets mad when someone messes with his jheri curl. Public Enemy's Chuck D tells a story about being on tour with NWA in Chicago where Eazy refused to leave the hotel room in case his hair got wet. Fellow Los Angeles rapper Ice-T tells a joke about what he imagines an NWA recording session is like -­ Ice Cube in the corner scribbling down lyrics while Eazy chides him, "Make me sound tougher. You're not making me sound tough enough."

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Is the departure of Ice Cube a big loss to the band?
Eazy: No, it means we get more money.

How would you assess his contribution to NWA?
No comment.

Well, Ice Cube has got comments. He says he wasn't getting paid. He says that you and Jerry got all the money.
On to the next subject.

Let's talk about "Fuck Tha Police." Did you follow what was going on in Boston in January, where Chuck Stuart apparently murdered his wife and blamed it on a black mugger and everyone believed him? Is that what you meant on "Fuck Tha Police"?
No, I don't know nothing about all that. We were just talking about what happens to us in Compton.

But racism isn't something that just happens in Compton.
The black police in Compton are worse than the white police. Chuck D gets involved in all that black stuff, we don't. Fuck that black power shit: we don't give a fuck. Free South Africa: we don't give a fuck. I bet there ain't anybody in South Africa wearing a button saying "Free Compton" or "Free California." They don't give a damn about us, so why should we give a damn about them? We're not into politics at all. We're just saying what other people are afraid to say.

Tell me about the FBI letter accusing you of advocating violence against the police.
It was juice.
We liked it.

Do you think it could hurt your career?
What are they gonna do? Put us in jail for making a record?

Did you get hassled by the police growing up in Compton?
Every day. They stereotype you and mess with you because you got a beeper, a little gold and a nice car. They figure you're a drug dealer or gang member.

Some people say that NWA glamorize black-on­black crime.
So what? They can say what the fuck they like. We're not telling anybody to join a gang or do drive-by shootings or to rob, steal and kill. We're just telling how it is in Compton.

Other people say you disrespect women.
We're not disrespecting women, we're disrespecting bitches.

What's the difference between a bitch and a woman?
A woman is a woman. A bitch is someone who carries herself in a stuck-up way. A bitch is someone who fucks everybody except me.


At the start of the interview, I presumed that Eazy E's laconic, don't-give-a-shit manner was merely a case of the rapper playing a game of pin-the-tale-on-the­honky. By the end of our session, I realized that with the departure of Ice Cube, NWA's 'collective IQ now barely makes it above room temperature.

But this is part of NWA's appeal for some. Funkenklein of Red Alert Productions - a man whose opinions I normally trust implicitly - sees NWA as a welcome reaction against "all that righteous, political bullshit in hip hop at the moment. They don't give a fuck. And that's why they're cool"

Attempting to explain the differences between the more cultural type of hip hop you get in New York and what passes for rap music in Los Angeles, Greg Sandow - music critic of Entertainment Weekly and a strong supporter of the band - explains: "They're two completely different societies. Try and find a credible black leader in Los Angeles. Even an AI Sharpton. Everything that happens in Los Angeles happens in a vacuum. There's no political consciousness being developed, because there's little community activism."

There's no doubt that Compton is a violent, troubled neighborhood, but from the outside, despite the gangs and drugs, it looks surprisingly bourgeois. "It doesn't look like Germany after World War II," says Jerry Heller. "It's all houses with nice little lawns."

Last year, Ice Cube's comfortable, middle-class home was fired on in a drive-by shooting: the bullets were supposedly meant for a neighbor's house. And Jerry Heller tells a story about signing a Compton rapper called E Rock on a Friday, who by Sunday had been shot dead. And Michel'le, on a recent visit to the hairdresser, was held up at gunpoint, her car hijacked, and her money stolen in broad daylight.

There's been a lot of nonsense written in the media about NWA and their neighborhood. Typical was a piece in a recent edition of Option which talked about the band's "threat to middle-class ideology" and the way they provide "a glimpse into the conditions of the inner-city, where poor or non-existent housing and little legal economic advancement have led people to extreme means."

There is an element of documentary realism about NWA's music, but that is largely overshadowed by the gleeful delight the band takes in demonstrating their supposed toughness. In reality, NWA have more in common with a Charles Bronson movie than a PBS documentary on the plight of the inner-cities. The media myth that US crime is black is peddled daily in newsprint and nightly on the networks. Sadly, it's a myth that NWA do little to dispel. Niggers With Attitude? Niggers With Activator, more like.