WFMU's Beware of the Blog

You No Longer Need to Beware of the Blog

After ten fun-filled years, we're packing up shop here at WFMU's Beware of the Blog. Many thanks to the dozens of volunteer authors who put in so much time and love into their posts and articles, and thanks to the commenters and trolls who almost feel like part of our dysfunctional family. 

"Almost" is a funny word, isn't it? 

We will keep every single post up here for all of eternity, and someday, WFMU may resume online publishing. First we need to find an admin though, something we haven't had here for many years, which is part of the reason that we are shutting it down. 

Thanks everybody!

Welcome to Beware of the Blog - Enjoy Our Bountiful Feast of Goodies!

Moving the Reel to Reel Catacombs to a New Site - A Very Special Last Post - Featuring Dora Hall!!

There is pure magic to be experienced, at least when you're in luck. Here's how it starts: Turn on the reel to reel tape recorder. Take the tape out of the box. Put the empty reel on the right spindle, and the full reel on the left spindle. Wind the tape through the mechanisms - including the pinch rollers, the capstan and the rest. The tape is pressed against the heads and moves at a certain number of inches per second. Start the machine. And sometimes... if you're lucky... magic comes spilling out of the speakers. 

For over five years (of my total of 7 1/2 years of posting here), I have been sharing treasures, finds, weirdness and the indescribable from my basement reel to reel catacombs, under a series going by that title. It began in March of 2010 with this post, and ends (for this blog), with the 67th entry, which is today's post. This blog is closing in a matter of days, and there will, at that point, be no further posts, changes or ability to comment. 

Before getting to today's post, which is a true favorite of mine, I want to say that it is my intention to continue this series, perhaps on a even more frequent basis, at a new site which I have started up this week, a blog I'm calling "Inches Per Second". That site can be found here, and I have already started posting with an initial post titled "A Gaggle of Giggling Twelve Year Olds". Please stop by, if you're of a mind to, and let me know whether or not the audience is there for me to continue sharing this particular area of collecting. 

As mentioned last week, I also hope to expand my current blog, "The Wonderful and the Obscure", beyond its current focus on song-poems, and bring in some of the other, non reel wonders from my collection. 

And now, on with the countdown: 

Several times, over the years, both in the 365 days project and in my own posts, I've mentioned the wondrous, late and lamented ALS Mammoth Music Mart, which ran in Skokie, IL, for 25 years, every fall. The most magical tapes I found at that sale are the ones featuring Merigail Moreland, You can read about the ALS sale and some initial information about Merigail in this post, and read the rest of the Merigail story in this post. 

But the second most wonderful find I made at the ALS sale is one I've rarely mentioned to anyone, and for which I've only shared the actual recordings with two people that I recall. For these tapes contain the sessions for an album by everyone's favorite Vanity Singer, Dora Hall, sessions that, as far as I can tell, were never released. And that's a shame because, for once, she was backed by a small combo of crack musicians, and, for one session, an big jazz band. Here's what I saw on one of the tapes I bought: 

Not familiar with Dora Hall? Read about her here, here and here, hear her within this site here and here, and search youtube for all sorts of amazing Dora material.  

The man behind these sessions was Chicago jazzman Larry Taylor. I have previously featured multiple posts featuring Mr. Taylor, and those tapes were also found at the ALS sale - clearly someone in his family dumped all of his tapes on the good people at the ALS fundraiser, because at the same time that I found those tapes, I also found close to a dozen tapes labeled "Dora Hall Session" and "Dora - Memphis" and "D.H" Session", and "Instrumental Takes - Dora". I gave them a spin, and heard.... magic, just as described at the start of this post.

These were the session tapes - with dates on them from the Fall of 1961 - at the studio speed of 15 inches per second (a few were 7 1/2 safety copies)  and featuring multiple takes of many songs (many more repeated songs by the band on the instrumental tapes than there were on the tapes where Dora overdubbed vocals, but just in general a lot of material). The band was made up of crack jazz musicians, with much of the material having a Dixieland feel. I own a ton of Dora Hall's albums and singles, and most of it has been captured online over the years, as well. If this material was ever released, I haven't found it. And it's better than anything else I've heard from her. 

First, before we get to Dora's vocals, here is one of the instrumental tracks from the Larry Taylor group that show just how good this band could be. Sadly, this one wasn't chosen for use under a Dora Hall vocal overdub, because I adore this track. It's my favorite from the tapes, actually, over any of the vocal tracks. It is just a backing track, but I love the back and forth between the "rock and roll" (twist) verses and the swinging bridge. But most of all, the trumpet solo - which sounds like it could have come from Clifford Brown - just kills me. It's sexy as hell, smooth and full of just amazing little melodic ideas. The last two bars of that solo are otherworldly. I also can't get enough of the little hi-hat and snare shot at the 2:19 point. I'm blathering, but these are the last thing I'll be posting to Beware of the Blog, and this particular track is one of my favorite things I've ever heard roll off of a reel of tape. 

The Larry Taylor Band - Between 18th and 19th on Chestnut Street (Instrumental) (MP3)

And now, a few samples from Dora's vocal sessions - I wouldn't be opposed to putting all of this out in some manner, and if anyone out there has the means to do so, in a larger venue than a blog, feel free to contact me at the e-mail address below. But for the time being, here are a few wonderful samples. The first three tracks are with the jazz combo (the first being over a different, swing take of "18th and 19th), and the fourth is from what's labeled as the "United Session", whatever that means - the tracks on those tapes feature Dora with a full jazz ensemble. To my ears, these tapes show Dora to have considerably more talent than her subsequent covers of pop hits (or later, less well made covers of these standards) demonstrate. Or maybe it's just the first-rate quality of the band(s) involved. 

Dora Hall with the Larry Taylor Band - Between 18th and 19th on Chestnut Street (MP3)

Dora Hall with the Larry Taylor Band - Nellie Bly (MP3)

Dora Hall with the Larry Taylor Band - Shine (MP3)

Dora Hall with Orchestra - That's a Plenty (MP3)

Back of Tape Box (JPG)  | Side of Tape Box (JPG)

Why wasn't this material ever released? Who knows? - most of those involved have been gone for decades. it is curious to me that Dora Hall released mediocre and just plain lousy material for more than a decade, while this material languished somewhere in Larry Taylor's home. 

You should be able to leave comments until July 30th. After that, you can contact me via either of my blogs, or via the e-mail address below. 

[email protected]

Thanks to everyone who read, liked and/or commented on my posts for the past several years. Having the chance to be a part of this blog has been one of the best things to have happened in my life. 

Bob Purse

"Juke Box Comics" - One Last Wallow

"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to the stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never.  In a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony."

William Henry Channing

"We are the music-makers, / And we are the dreamers of dreams, / Wandering by lone sea-breakers, / And sitting by desolate streams; / World-losers and world-forsakers, / On whom the pale moon gleams: / Yet we are the movers and shakers / Of the world forever, it seems."

Arthur William Edgar O'Shaughnessy

"A man is like a phonograph with half-a-dozen records. You soon get tired of them all; and yet you have to sit at table whilst he reels them off to every new visitor."

George Bernard Shaw

{ Drew Dobbs / aka "Listener Mindwrecker" } : What an irony that when I first began to blog here (in January 2009) I had just completed a move across country that required leaving behind three-quarters of my record collection, so that I began to run out of amazing material rather more quickly than I would have liked, and eventually switched over altogether into this comic book-related series. Thanks again to Otis Fodder, who ushered me into the honorable position of bi-weekly blogging at BOTB. It IS often all in who you know. This will apparently be the next-to-last post of mine here and so I'm going to pour a lot into these last two (or perhaps I'll squeeze in an extra one), as far as content. Since I am always prepping future blog posts well in advance, there is a pile of sort-of-related things left to present here, and it will be a little bit of a jumble sale.

Today, we'll be going through the rest of the six-issue run of "Juke Box Comics" (we have presented some bits from the first two issues here before) from the late 1940s and combing out the best from those lovely books, as well as one small piece in a similar vein from "True Comics" #75.

A lot of fun stuff awaits -- right after the jump!

Pot, Rock and Revolution - Another Reactionary Filmstrip Soundtrack (MP3's)

First off, I want to thank everyone for reading, liking and commenting on my posts on this blog over the years. When I first joined the original 365 Days project (2003), and then the subsequent WFMU hosted 2007 sequel, I had no idea that I'd be invited to start posting on my own early in 2008, starting with this post, let alone that this experience would inspire me to turn my own blog into a song-poem-palooza, or that I'd still be posting here 7 1/2 years later.

All that is in advance of saying that this is my next to last post, because, as you may have heard, the blog is being put to sleep at the end of the month. All posts will remain, but no new ones will appear. This will be my next to last post - the last will be a very special reel to reel tape feature, along with an announcement of a site where I will continue to share reel treasures. For now, I will say that it is my plan and expectation to continue to share vinyl wonders through an expansion of my own blog, adding to the weekly song-poem postings with regular postings of more of the sorts of things that I've been sharing here for the better part of the decade. Starting in August, those posts will appear at my site, "The Wonderful and the Obscure".

Today, however, we have a sequel to a post I made in May, regarding a filmstrip soundtrack for a screed against the people behind a textbook called "Land of the Free". Almost immediately after making that posting, it received a comment from a person who had found another record, apparently from the same organization (who had apparently changed their name to "Constructive Action, Inc.) in the ensuing years, this time trying to scare middle class parents half to death with scary tales of marijuana use and rock and roll.

In listening to this album, I'm reminded of the saying that you are entitled to your own opinions, but not to your own facts. Plenty of the "facts" quoted here seem completely made up, none more than the statement that 40-50% of the young people who were smoking marijuana at that time, would be on heroin within 18 months. That's the most outlandish, but it's hardly the only time the narrator flies off the deep end - he also all but accuses Mick Jagger (who he repeatedly calls "Jaggard") of being to blame for the Manson family murders. It's also always good to base one's views of marijuana on the laws and cultures of such places as Egypt and Morocco.

Oh, but the opinions here, and the leaps of logic made from them, are even more fun. The entire youth subculture is the fault of a few hundred nihilistic students at Berkeley. The major networks and record labels should be charged with treason for creating and promoting what would otherwise be a non-existent "Generation Gap". Once you've had sex while high, regular sex is so disappointing, you have to keep getting high, then seek ever higher highs, until you simply can't function - and this happens to everyone who smokes marijuana. The cartoon cover of the "Yellow Submarine" album (which, by the way, the Beatles had little to do with) shows that John Lennon is a Satanist. And I'm sure the Smothers Brothers will be surprised to find out that their popular and controversial show was apparently on NBC. After all those years of conflict with CBS - they were fighting the wrong people!!!

This thing is ridiculous, but it sure is entertaining. And a huge thank you to Chester for making me aware of this album, and even more for sharing it with me and letting me post it. 

Constructive Action, Inc. - Pot Rock Revolution, Side One (MP3)

Constructive Action, Inc. - Pot Rock Revolution, Side Two (MP3)

Album Cover Sticker (JPG)  |  Record Label Side One (JPG)

Comments can be left below through the 30th, after which they can be sent to [email protected]

Bob

"Lucky Fights It Through" and Other Romantic Encounters

"When Joey put that trumpet to his lips, he blew against the walls of love and hate and every personal feeling I had for him ... And my heart came tumbling down!"

--- And from another story:

"Lucky Jordan was a tophand cowpuncher. He knew steers and horses. He knew the tricks of sticking on a wild bronc's arching back, the loop of a lariat in midair, the thrill of diving towards the curving horns of a brahma bull inside the rodeo arena. But there were some things Lucky didn't know. On the subject of women, he wasn't so wise. So this is Lucky's story and it opens on the graze ground of his little mill iron ranch, over a branding iron fire ... "

Yessir, romance is in the air today at BOTB's Comic Supplement!  We're back with a passel of cool stories and art, including work by two giants in the comic book field: Harvey Kurtzman and Jack Kirby!

Let's learn a few love tricks from the true-life entanglements and foibles presented in our tales today - join us right after the jump!

Johnny Cash and Friends Present: Singing Rice-Ipes (MP3's)

Here's a little little seven inch flexidisc, titled "Singing Rice-Ipes", containing seven songs about all of the wonderful things you can make with rice, featuring Johnny Cash, among others, singing brief ditties in support of Riviana foods (here spelled "Rivianna"), makers of Minute Rice and a number of other rice prodects. This disc came along with an album, released by Columbia Special Products, titled "Nashville Chowdown", and also came with a list of seven recipes ("Rice-Ipes"), one for each of the dishes described in the seven songs. Neither the album nor the recipe sheet made their way to my collection, unfortunately.

I am not much of a fan of the country music made in this era (this was released in 1970, and my interest in country dies out with the decline of Roger Miller's career, a few years earlier), and admit up front that I only recognize Johnny Cash, who is the lead singer on three of these tracks. Presumably, the other four tracks also feature Columbia Records talent - feel free to chime in with the names of these vocalists. 

(ADDENDUM 7/9/15 - As pointed out by a couple of listeners (and as something I actually wondered about, but did not add to my original text), it appears that this is not actually Johnny Cash (or other famous singers), but rather, impersonators. Why Columbia would risk alienating the stars on their own label is a mystery to me, but this appears to be the case.)

Some of these items sound darn tasty, although I find the idea of making pancakes with rice really unpleasant.

All but one of the songs song run well under two minutes, most under 90 seconds. The first four songs are on side one, and the other three on side two (which is in considerably worse shape than side one - I did my best with the surface noise). 

1.) Houston Hash (MP3)

2.) Sunnyside Rice (MP3)

3.) Cripple Creek Casserole (MP3)

4.) Texarkana_Rice (MP3)

5.) Blue Ridge Flap-Jacks (MP3)

6.) Skillet Gumbo (MP3)

7.) Hopping John (MP3)

Record A-Side Label (JPG)   |   Record B-Side Label (JPG)

Seeing Color TV for the First Time - A Tape from 1966 (Exploring My Reel-to-Reel Catacombs, Volume 66) (MP3)

I'm not quite old enough to clearly remember the point at which my family got a color TV, and suddenly not everything was in black-and-white. But my guess is that anyone a couple of years older than me or more (I'm about to turn 55) has a clear memory of that moment. 

Here, then, is a tape from my own family's home-recorded collection (a large set of tapes by the way, one which no doubt set me on the road to collection those made by other families). 

The tape dates from the first week of August, 1966 (the ability to date it so closely will be mentioned below), and features me older brother recording with a friend of his. This was his common practice, and became mine, with my friends, as I grew a little older. My brother (Bill) is heard here at 12 years old, his friend about the same. We'd had a color TV for some time, but the friend (Steve) had apparently yet to see TV in color. 

Essentially, this tape captures segments of about six minutes of broadcasting (with much cut due to the recorder being turned off and on), including bits of a game show, a newscast and commercials, as well as what anyone seeing TV in color for the first time in 1966 would want to see most, the NBC Peacock. 

If you can get past the constant noise from handling of the microphone, and the various inanities and noises made by 12 year old boys, this is a neat little time capsule in just under four minutes. 

Some specific highlights: 

    - at 0:13: "Ooh, it's a color TV? I wanna see a color TV"

    - at 0:29 (and again at 1:02): Moments from the original incarnation of "The Match Game"

    - at 039: an ad for New Era Potato Chips and a subsequent discussion of them by the boys

    - at 1:27: the original Match Game theme (aka "A Swingin' Safari"). An indelible, wonderful tune and record, and still my favorite game show theme song ever. 

    - at 2:01: easily my favorite moment here - a comment in response to a "Girl from U.N.C.L.E." ad. 

    - at 2.06: Bill expresses his absolute hatred for the show "Occasional Wife". His strong reaction is odd, given that the show won't debut for another five weeks. 

    - starting at 2:34: here's a neat discussion, with regard to something I'd forgotten. The UHF channels (at least those in Chicago), didn't necessarily have shows that ran hour-to-hour. If a show ended at 2:40, the channel went dead until the next show started at 3 PM. Steve wants to see a UHF channel in color, but neither Chicago UHF station seems to be broadcasting. There is a weak signal from Indiana (Bill says we also could get Milwaukee), but it's mostly just sound. The Chicago stations will likely start up again at 3, but Bill wants to get back to NBC for the peacock. 

    - at 3:12: "that's Nancy Dickerson?" Also, whoever is reporting is talking about the recent University of Texas Tower Shootings of August 1st, which give us an approximate date for this tape. 

    - at 3:36: at last, the NBC Peacock. 

I hope you enjoy this neat little nugget of television history, as experienced in the suburbs of Chicago. 

Bill and Steve: Seeing Color TV for the First Time (JPG)

Scotty Scott and his Vanity 45 (MP3's)

The Film City label is one which utterly fascinates me. It was the label Sandy Stanton created after The Fabulous Fable Label, which I've written about here a few times. And it's where song-poem God Rodd Keith got his start and made many of my favorite song-poem records, using The Chamberlin as a one-man band project like no one else has done before or since. (I've posted many of them on my own site, and I'd link you to them, but unfortunately, recent problems with Divshare have rendered nearly all of the files on my site unplayable.)

Every now and then, Film City seems to have done business with someone who wanted to record his or her own material. More often than not, this seems to have involved utilizing the abilities of that same Chamberlin, which was, quite likely, played on those records by Rodd Keith. They typically feature the same wording as the song-poems that Film City produced, with such backing bands as "The Film City Orchestra" or, as in today's case, "The Swinging Strings". All such fictional bands actually being one man playing one unusual instrument. 

I've previously posted two Film City vanity 45's, one created by a man who clearly didn't know how very little he knew about songwriting, and one by a woman who seems to have known that she was making something fairly goofy. It also seems likely, as a friend of mine has pointed out, that the fabulous record I posted many years ago - "Can I Pawn My Teeth to You" / "Man Do I Like Fridays", by Roy Esser, has the sound and feel of Rodd Keith's Film City productions. Although it did not appear on Film City (Stanton created all sorts of tiny labels as offshoots of Film City), I'm betting that one came out of the Stanton/Keith file, too. 

Today, another Film City record from the vanity file, and again it's someone who was from the amateur end of things. His name was Scotty Scott, and captured on the two sides of this 45 are a multitude of stultifying couplets. Having written my share of lyrics over the years, I know the feeling of needing to come up with something that rhymes, scans well, makes sense and sounds good. With the lyricist of this record, it often sounds like he settled for "well, it rhymes", including phrases which seem pulled out of thin air, random and non-sequitorial. 

An example: The A-side is titled "Chattanooga, Nashville, Battlecreek Trek", and if you can manage to figure out the point of this song, please let me know. He rambles on about people getting jobs and where they've been and where they are for 2 1/2 minutes, along the way offering up this magnificent rhyme. 

"One man gets a job, then his brother gets one, too

Then his Uncle Bob, with or without a shoe."

The B-side is "Antique Hunter's Craze". This tells the story of a married couple who threw away all their old things way back when, only to become antique collectors later in life, sung from the perspective of the couple's son, who is none too happy about this development. We are told: 

You ought to see them when the find a bauble that's rare

Their eyes light up with a smile that before wasn't there. 

I particularly like that one because it just doesn't scan with the melody at all. 

Scotty Scott and the "Swinging Strings" - Chattanooga, Nashville, Battlecreek Trek (MP3)

Scotty Scott and the "Swinging Strings" - Antique Hunter's Craze (MP3)

A--Side Label (JPG)  |  B-Side Label (JPG)

Incidentally, this record was pressed on translucent dark red plastic, with a splash of yellow in one spot along the edge. I don't know how much you can make out, but here is a scan of the entire record: 

Film City 45 (JPG)

Silly Pilly vs. Mighty Bear

"Hello boys and girls and dads and mothers!  Here is a book full of the funniest people I know:

Mr. Wheatley Whale --- he's forty yards long, he weighs 80,000 pounds, he's good-hearted, but he's always getting mixed up.

Then there's Brumas --- the fattest, funniest little bear you ever saw.

Judy, That's Me! --- a little girl who helps Mr. whale out when he gets in trouble.

Silly Pilly --- who's so silly! He does all the silly things you DON'T do, because you know better.  

Then there are all sorts of puzzles and games and jokes and things we like to do and say and think about.

Will you write to me and tell me what you like best about our first book and tell me what you'd like in the next book?         

Best wishes to you from your friend,        Frank Luther."

Thus reads the introductory page from the one and only issue of Frank Luther's Silly Pilly Comics, and if that doesn't whet your appetite for a look at more, well...um...y'know, I can't really blame you! 

Francis Luther Crow, aka Frank Luther, nearly forgotten now, was one of the kings of the 78 rpm-records-for-kids market for many years in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. Besides being an ordained minister, country music artist, radio and television personality (he was even covered by Negativland!),  he also had his own one-shot comic book as well, which brings us to that half of today's post. 

We'll examine the entire issue of Silly Pilly (what a name!), as well as a crazy little story from Mighty Bear #14, so hang on to your hats and dive with us into the wackiness that is today's WFMU Comic Supplement -- right after the jump!

Land of the Free - A Filmstrip About a Controversial Textbook (Exploring My Reel-to-Reel Catacombs, Volume 65) (MP3)

Here's an example of how I really never know what I'm going to stumble across when I go down and pull out a few random tapes from the vast piles of as-yet-unlistened-to reels in my basement. This was labeled "Education or Indoctrination", and contained very little other identifying information. Here's the story I learned: 

In 1966, a textbook arrived which attempted to focus on many of the things which had been overlooked in history textbooks up until that time. Titled "Land of the Free", and written by John W. Caughey, John Hope Franklin and Ernest R. May, it quickly became the target of many parents, educators, commentators and politicians, primarily conservatives, and even more primarily those on the far right.

The complaints were many, but (and this is a huge simplification) among other things, those complaints dealt with the minimizing (to the point of not mentioning, in some cases) the achievements of many famous Americans in the areas of war and politics, the playing up of the things that Americans have done of which we might not want to be so proud, and an emphasis on the roles that certain members of certain minority groups have played in the country's history. You can read online at length about the controversy regarding this textbook - by 1967, there was even a book describing the controversy! 

Into the fray marched something called "Publius and Associates", and they created a filmstrip to show to concerned parents and educators, all about the horrors of this textbook. The soundtrack to that filmstrip is what turned up in my collection, complete with the little "beeps", that those of us over a certain age remember from grade school.

Not having seen the book, I can't offer much of an opinion. But the first half of this filmstrip soundtrack makes a decent case that the book is woefully incomplete and perhaps deliberately provocative - one paragraph in a US 1966 history book discussing Eisenhower? But soon enough, the true nature of the narrators concerns becomes clear, as we are treated to complaints about which African Americans are focused on, including that Communist Martin Luther King and the radical W.E.B. Dubois, rather than that nice, non-threatening Booker T. Washington. And then there's the complaint that the book is critical of the HUAC/McCarthyism period of American history. Horrors. There are enough code words and insinuations here to make clear what was really on the minds of those behind this filmstrip and narration, even if some of their complaints do appear completely legitimate.

My copy of this tape also includes a postscript, apparently attached to the tape (and presumably to the filmstrip) by whoever was showing this filmstrip in California. It gives the names of those who approved (and voted against) the use of this book in California's Eighth Grade classrooms, and encourages people to vote their consciences when these people come up for re-election. This section also contains the most flaccid sounding filmstrip "beeps" that I've ever heard. 

Here, by the way, is a blurb announcing the presentation of the filmstrip in Pittsburgh, in 1968, by the wonderfully named Western Pennsylvania Parents to protect our youth from Propaganda, Brainwashing and Subversive Textbooks in our Schools. And here's a blog posting regarding two other Publius efforts, pamphlets called "The Hippies" and "Sex-Ed: Conditioning for Immorality". Wow.

By the way, in doing research about this book, I found out two interesting things. First, several minorities not represented well in the book also complained about some of the things this book focused on, saying that if you were going to write an alternative history to counteract the prevailing language in textbook, you shouldn't continue to pick and choose what to leave out. And second, the fallout from this book was that history textbooks got a lot bigger, as future publishers strove to include not only what had always been in previous books, but also to include the history of the marginalized, the obscure, the negative, etc. 

Interesting stuff!

Oh, and comments are back!!!

Publius and Associates - Education or Indoctrination? (MP3)

Tape Box (JPG)

That English Sound!!! Sounding Not At All English!!!! (MP3's)

Here's one of the myriad albums which came out in the wake of the British Invasion, purporting to contain hits by your latest favorite groups, particularly the Beatles. While I found a few sites which shared this marvelous album cover, and several sites trying to sell the album (which I picked up for a quarter), it doesn't look like the material itself has been shared anywhere, with one exception (I'll get to that in a few paragraphs). While most of the other albums that I've seen or owned which tried to glom onto the Beatles magic are from 1964, this one would appear to date from some point after December of 1965, given the presence of both sides of the Beatles 45 release in that month. 

This is, as you might expect, as half-assed as they come. At no point do the performers sound anything like the original artists, OR like they are from anywhere in England. We are treated to one song each by the Rolling Stones and by Herman's Hermits (the latter featuring a truly atrocious attempt at Peter Noone's accent, and no attempt to recreate his vocal tone), and four Beatle songs from 1965. Amazingly, they manage to mangle key lyrical phrases in both "Help!" and "Day Tripper".

Three of the remaining four songs are mysteries, perhaps included to try and fill out what ended up only being a 25 minute album. On "Where Were You", the performers seem to have made the questionable decision to try to emulate the group I'd pick as the worst major group of the era, Jay and the Americans - not only an awful group, but also certainly not English. "You Make the Decisions" seems to want to be a Peter and Gordon song, while "Just Give Me Time" is clearly a Beach Boys pastiche - again, not noted for being British.

That leaves the final track, and the real mystery of this album. Because "Bless You Little Girl" turns out to have actually been released - and this performance of it, too - not once, but twice, under two different artist names. The song was co-written by well known songwriter Bobby Russell, and came out under the name Bobby and Buddy and also by Peter and the Rabits (sic). I've listened to all three releases, and believe they are all the same track. How did that song end up on this album? 

And did any of these labels make their money back. There was clearly talent involved in these releases - bands, string sections, etc. Were enough people fooled to help earn the costs of such a product back? 

1.) We Can Work It Out (MP3)

2.) As Tears Go By (MP3)

3.) Yesterday (MP3)

4.) Where Were You? (MP3)

5.) You Make the Decisions (MP3)

6.) Help! (MP3)

7.) Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter (MP3)

8.) Day Tripper (MP3)

9.)Just Give Me Time (MP3)

10.) Bless You Little Girl (MP3)

Front Cover (JPG)  |  Back Cover (JPG)  |  Record Label (JPG)

Oh, and COMMENTS ARE BACK!!! Have Your Say!!!

The Five-String Mob Vs. the Monster of Loch Trevor

Today we present another large dose of Jack Kirby magic, deep in the middle of the fantastic Fourth World saga, where we remembered a story with a slightly musical edge.

There are loads of guest stars and a tangled plot-line weaving into and out of today's tale, but you can also enjoy it simply as a nutty installment of Jimmy Olsen from December 1971, when Kirby was trying out four books worth of wild concepts, with no end in sight.

Long-hairs, rock music and youth culture usually get a poor treatment in comic books, and I wish I could say that Mr. Kirby treated "hippie" culture any better (since it was pretty moribund and co-opted at this time, it is a very moot point) than his peers, but he did give it a good try. His books certainly went much further out beyond the more common stereotypes to become nearly psychedelic on their own.

In this week's presentation we'll also briefly notice some "real" people used as models for Kirby characters, to whit: six comic book fans whom he was friendly with, and silent-movie-era actor James Finlayson (?!).

So strap in and join us after the jump for this extra-wild ride in the latest installment of the WFMU Comic Supplement!

Greetings from the San Fernando Valley, 1965: An Audio Letter (Exploring My Reel-to-Reel Catacombs, Volume 64) (MP3's)

In my vast collection of reel to reel tapes, there are dozens, perhaps even a few hundred, audio letters. I've shared several of them here over the years, and today, here's an admittedly mundane one as another example of the sort of "day in the life" quality that these tapes present. 

The one thing I do find sort of fascinating about this particular tape is the woman's accent. It sounds close in certain ways to Jack Nicholson's drawl, without being quite the same, and she also has a way of adding a pause in the middle of a word after certain vowel sounds, especially "O", essentially adding another syllable as a result. 

This is just life as she knew it in the mid 1960's - wondering about the effectiveness of those new Teflon pans, theater shows she and her husband had gone to at the local theater, sharing her life and asking about that of the person receiving the tape. 

The woman making the tape mentions her difficulty in using reel to reel tape recorders a few times, and, in fact, I've had to boost the sound quite a bit in some sections of the recording, as she left the volume far too low for nearly half of the recording. This accounts for the changes in sound quality that take place. After using the entire length of side one of the tape, she turned it over and recorded for a few more minutes on the flip side. 

This tape is from 1965.. She mentions that it is June 20th (coincidentally, my birthday!), and that it was Father's Day. The mention of the increasing numbers of soldiers being sent to Vietnam makes this the only likely year in which Father's Day was on June 20th. In addition, she mentions going to see Buddy Ebsen in "Paint Your Wagon" at the Valley Theater, which I've been able to confirm took place at a theater by that name in Woodland Hills, CA, the same week this tape was recorded. This also places the speaker somewhere in the San Fernando Valley. 

Unknown - Audio Letter from the San Fernando Valley Side One (MP3)

Unknown - Audio Letter from the San Fernando Valley Side Two (MP3)

Tape Box (JPG)

Stanford's Spring Sing '68: "The Rights of Spring" (MP3's)

First, I wanted to point out to anyone who read my previous post, about the mysterious rock and roll songs, thall ALL of them have been identified. The updated post can be found here. And now, on with the countdown: 

I was lucky enough to come across this album last year, the locally produced soundtrack to a show held at Stanford in 1968, and titled "Spring Sing: 'The Rights of Spring'". In different ways, this album is entertaining, eye-opening and not much short of astonishing. 

I was only seven in the spring of 1968, but with the history I'm aware of, it seems likely to me that, aside from perhaps the first three weeks of that season, it was not a very happy, lighthearted spring season. No doubt the murder of Dr. King on April 4 of that year more than took the wind out of the country's sails. 

And yet here we have the recorded evidence of a celebratory college show, held at Stanford that Spring. My strong guess is that it took place after Dr. King's death and most likely after the most extreme of the reactions and fallout from that event (given that most schools hold an even of this type close to the end of the semester), and if that's the case, I find the lighthearted nature of much of this material more than a little surprising. The bottom line is that I found myself listening to this album just short of shocked at how little it seems to reflect the issues of the day. 

Well, now, not all issues. The first track, "We've Got Trouble" contains some biting words about the privilege of being White, and makes several jabs at this and related issues, so clearly the problems of the day were not unknown to these young people. 

The other issue touched on, though, in several tracks, is the relationship between the sexes on campus. While the soon-to-be coming of co-ed dorms is excitedly mentioned multiple times, I was more taken with the tracks which casually, with attempted good humor and complete acceptance, make light of the possibility of co-eds getting drunk and being taken advantage of, or just in general the question of when and how will the lovely young lady get home. And this occurs without critical comment in songs by both men and women's groups on the album. Looked at through today's lens, I can't imagine that these songs would have made it into the show in these forms, or that if they somehow did, heads wouldn't have rolled the next day. 

That's not to say that this album is a horror of unabashed sexism and cluelessness, just that nearly half the time, there seems to be only one thought on the performers' minds, and it is expressed in a way that I don't think would fly today. There are plenty of nice moments, funny moments and enjoyable musical moments here. On the other hand, there are a few straight numbers, uniformly dull and uninspired (one is labeled "Renditions of Simon and Garfunkel", but could have just as well be labeled "Sounds of Silence" as that's all it is). 

A few other notes: The track "My Lord and Master" is the second track on side two, as indicated on the label, and not the fourth track, as indicated on the cover. And there is no mention of the little speech the ends the album, on the cover or the label. What's odd here is that the person speaking seems to be introducing the next act as he finishes speaking, except that.... that's where the album ends! 

1.) Jordan/El Capitan – We've Got Trouble (MP3)

2.) Business School – Goodnight Little Girl/I Should Have Known Better/ Goin’ to Live with God (MP3)

3.) Lathrop - The Simple Joys (MP3)

4.) Delta Upsilon - Renditions of Simon & Garfunkel (MP3)

5.) Alpha Delta Phi – I've Been Waiting For Spring (MP3)

6.) Fremont - Getting the Cure (MP3)

7.) Soto - My Lord and Master (MP3)

8.) Kappa Sigma/Roth - The Wrongs of Spring (MP3)

9.) Roble - Death of the Roble Dollie (MP3)

10.) El Toro - Conception of Stanford (Blown By the Winds of Freedom (MP3)

11.) Unknown - Announcement at End of Album (MP3)

Here are the covers and the labels: 

Stanford Label A-Side (JPG)  |  Stanford Label B-Side (JPG)  

Stanford Front Cover (JPG)  |  Stanford Back Cover (JPG)  |  Stanford Back Cover Close Up (JPG)

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