WFMU's Beware of the Blog

Early Musical Robots

One blog reader asked what the the story behind the picture with the walking, talking, and yodeling "radio man" for last week's post was. The article is from a 1939 issue of Popular Mechanics, and "Radio Man" was designed by Swiss engineer August Huber in the 1930's. Like all early robots, he looks way cooler than the modern ones. That's all I know. And instead of wasting my time researching more about Radio Man, here are a few more early robots, all stolen from the "Robot" section of the excellent Modern Mechanix blog. (Click on the images to get a larger version.)

 

Two more robots after the jump.

Yodel! (MP3s)

[ There are 18 MP3s in this post. All but one feature gratuitous yodeling. Some even include bird impersonations. Don't say you weren't warned. ]

Applied chaos theory in the information age? Whatever you want to call it, it happens to me quite frequently. Stuff somehow makes its way onto my hard drive, and I have no clue where it came from. So I had this MP3 compilation called "Yodel!" lying around for a while, and the title and artist information all seemed very suspicious. (Like a song called "oooooooooo" by "That DUDE" or such.) It doesn't seem to be ripped from one of the countless commercially available yodeling compilations, which makes it a bit harder (at least for me) to figure out what these songs are actually called and who performed them. I was not 100% successful, but I am confident that you can help me fill in the blanks. In exchange you get lots of free yodeling. Here it is, with all the (hopefully correct) info I could gather:

01 Wilf Carter (Montana Slim) - Alpine Milkman
02 Cackle Sisters - Arizona Yodeler
03 Cackle Sisters - I Left Her Standing There
04 Cackle Sisters - Go To Sleep My Darling Baby
05 Unknown - Yoodling (?)
06 Wilf Carter (Montana Slim) - Swiss Moonlight Lullaby
07 Sons of the Pioneers - Devil's Great Grandson
08 The Louvin Brothers - Satan is Real
09 J.E. Mainer's Mountaineers - Yodeling Mountaineer
10 Tex Williams - Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)
11 Unknown - The Drunkard's Hell
12 Unknown - Springtime in the Rockies
13 Eddy Arnold - Cattle Call
14 Patsy Montana - I Want To Be A Cowboy's Sweetheart
15 Unknown - Unknown
16 Wilf Carter (Montana Slim) - When The Ice Worms Nest Again
17 Tex Williams - Never Trust A Woman
18 Erika Eigen - I Wanna Marry A Lighthouse Keeper (Honestly, I have no clue why this was included, but I didn't want to destroy the artistic integrity of the original compilation...)

Standouts are definitely the three songs by the Cackle (DeZurik) Sisters. You can get much more music by them at the 365 Days Project. And please, if you know any of the missing artists/titles, leave a comment.

Rocky VI (video)

Twenty years before Sylvester Stallone revived the Rocky franchise in 2006 for the sixth installment of the series, Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki shot a short film called "Rocky VI". It was Kaurismäki's spoof of "Rocky IV" which had come out in 1985. In the words of the director, it was his "revenge on Mr. Stallone, who I think is an asshole". Here is the complete 8 minute thing.

If this doesn't work for you, try it on YouTube. By the way, it is about time that someone release all the great classic Kaurismäki movies on DVD in the US.  Not even "Leningrad Cowboys Go America" is available in region code 1. Criterion, do you hear this?

Can on German TV 1971 (video)

This is a great German TV special from 1971, featuring Krautrock legends Can doing some avant-gardish things, playing foosball (better known under the name "table football" in Europe), jamming around, and talking about socialism and music. The clip is taken from a 1999 Can documentary (which you can order with some other goodies on DVD at Spoon Records). I don't know whether the introduction is from the same program, but it was just too good to leave out.

For slightly better quality, you can download the video (32 meg MPEG-4).

The Cassette Mythos (MP3s)

The Cassette Mythos is an anthology on homemade cassette culture, curated by Robin James, published in book form in 1990 by Autonomedia, now available for free on the Internet. I urge you to go to the website, read Robin's account of the history of the Cassette Mythos project, and check out the articles. Contributors include Eugene Chadbourne, John Trubee, Amy Denio, John Oswald, Chris Cutler, WFMU's own Dave Mandl, and many more people who were actually involved in the making of cassettes at the time.

Accompanying the release of the book was a CD Audio Alchemy: The Cassette Mythos Compilation, which (in the words of Robin James) "started off as a comprehensive, democratic, and historical survey of the international cassette swapping underground scene, but wound up being what it is, twenty-one innovative sonic-arts geniuses that could be your neighbors". Is the hype justified? I'd say yes, but listen for yourself. Here it is, the whole album in MP3 format:

1. Heather Perkins - What you want to happen, will
2. Ric E. Braden - Columbus Ave. 10PM
3. Jim Steele - Splatter Experience of the Green Gods
4. Daniel Johnston - Grievances
5. John Wiggins - Timbre=Melody
6. YXIMALLOO - China-Pong
7. Qubais Ghazala - Delphian Oracle
8. Fredrick Lonberg-Holm - The Second Minuet
9. Costes - Oh Fortuna
10. Kitchen Table Ensemble - Exploded Views
11. Solomonoff & Von Hoffmanstahl - Banzai Noir
12. Vosch - Tunnel at Dawn
13. Philip Perkins - Remoting (excerpt from Berkeley Remote)
14. Minoy - Sspress
15. Triptic of a Pastel Fern - Shiny Things
16. Gregory Whitehead - It makes me blush...
17. Mystery Laboratory - Excerpt from V. T.
18. Bat Lenny - Delphi [Delta Phi]
    
19. Collapse/Relapse - Webs
20. Hope Organ - Sneaky
21. tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - Drying clothes made entirely of zippers (partial cycle)
    

The Bonzo Mash

Here is a great video of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band doing the Monster Mash and the Sound of Music, from 1969 or so.

If the embedded video doesn't work, here is the YouTube link.

How To Play The Blues

Today's post is for all you amateur musicians out there, reprinted from the Unofficial Terry Hanck Blog. Check out the other entries on that great blog, too. By the way, although Terry Hanck looks almost human, I am convinced that he is either a robot or a space alien. I'll let you be the judge.

How To Play The Blues

Ampere-hour, the blue. One of the far away most well-known forms of music the blue as mouth tradition can be pursued back to the middle 1800s and finds his roots of Europe and of Africa. However the blue, since we know, is it today only an American kind of music. It began first, into the early 1900s, with chaps such as WC handy letters Lieden like “Memphis blue” u. “pc. of Louis blue to be popularized.” In the twenties and in the thirties guitarists used slides of broken bottle beginnings, around the dia. clay/tone (to cause the something, which, each possible guitarist should learn with the desire, the Blueselectrified Guitarre is to play the blue is main those Guitarre and piano, which are focused, but it can be also played on other instruments. In order to play the blue, there are some points and cheat those you received can began fast.

Money (videos)

It is that time of year again, WFMU needs your money. Here are two takes on the subject of money, as seen through the eyes of last millennium new wave bands from Europe.

On the left are the Flying Lizards appearing "live" on some TV show, the video on the right is by Malaria, taken from the Berlin Underground 1979-1983 DVD. Both songs are called "Money". Youtube links: Flying Lizards | Malaria.

Johnny Greenwood and the Oscars

It is a sure bet that Paul Thomas Anderson's excellent film There Will Be Blood will grab a few Oscars tonight, but unfortunately it won't get one for Best Original Score. The reason is an arcane and stupid Academy Awards rule excluding "scores diluted by the use of tracked themes or other pre-existing music".

The score was written by Radiohead guitarist Johnny Greenwood, combining pieces by Arvo Pärt, Johannes Brahms, and others, with a good chunk (supposedly about 35 minutes) of music written by himself specifically for this film. He also used a few pieces of his BBC-commissioned 2006 composition Popcorn Superhet Receiver (RealAudio streaming link). Apparently this was too much "diluting" for the Academy, and it really is a shame that this keeps the best 2007 film score out of the awards.

If you think this is a 21st century problem, you might be surprised that this rule has already robbed another great composer from receiving an Oscar, 35 years ago. Nino Rota's score for the original 1972 Godfather movie was ruled ineligible for recycling a theme from his soundtrack for the 1958 film Fortunella. However, Rota used the same theme again in 1974's Godfather II, and this film finally got him his deserved award. It doesn't make any sense, but it really happened that way. I am waiting for There Will Be Blood II...

You can listen to a track from Johnny Greenwood's score on his MySpace page, and you should also check out an excerpt from Bodysong (YouTube link), a 2003 film by Simon Pummell which was scored by Greenwood.

Pink Section (MP3s)

I can't tell you much about Pink Section, a San Francisco art punk band existing from 1979 to 1980. Pretty much the only thing about them I knew was that they were playing shows with the Inflatable Boy Clams back in the day. However, that was good enough reason for me to try and track down all their recorded output, and I was not disappointed by the 10 tracks I found. Since their recordings do not seem to be available commercially, I thought I'd share them with you. Enjoy.

MP3s: Shopping | Tour of China | | Wine World | Midsummer NY | Flat Dog | Part Time | Francine's List | Jane Blank (live) | Francine's List (live) | Been in the Basement 30 Years (live)

There is also a YouTube video of Pink Section playing in Portland in 1980. And if you like this stuff, you should definitely check out Fatty Jubbo's post on Silver Abuse.

Wayne County Ramblin' (video)

Why isn't a film starring Iggy Pop, Mick Collins (Dirtbombs), Nathaniel Mayer, Lorette Velvette, Otha Turner, Cub Koda, Tav Falco, and Cordell Jackson a big hit? The Dan Rose film Wayne County Ramblin' was released (on DVD) back in June 2006, and I don't think too many people have ever heard about it. In an effort to change this, here is the trailer:

Wayne County Ramblin' is a road movie about Penny and Johnny, a young couple from Detroit, trying to find "Peggy's beloved grandfather Simon" (played by Iggy Pop) in Mississippi. Mick Collins stars as some kind of West African spirit about whom it is said that "if his testicles grow cold, his devotees had better come forth with some pig iron (strong drink)". And then there are two more West African spirits played by Lorette Velvette and Otha Turner. If you are not yet confused enough, read the more detailed synopsis and the cast and role descriptions. Perhaps more informative and less psychedelic is this Detroit Metro Times review of the film.

Spread the word, buy the DVD, and check out other videos by Dan Rose on YouTube.

The McDonald's Commercial That Didn't Quite Make The Superbowl

YouTube link (check out "related videos" if you want more).

Michel Waisvisz - Crackle (MP3s)

As a conclusion to my MP3 identification contest, I am posting the solution to round 4. It took a while, but it was finally identified as the track A Cheval from the Michel Waisvisz album Crackle, released 1978 on FMP. Just like Tolerance's album Anonym, it is one of the great and insanely rare albums on the famous Nurse With Wound list. Fortunately, Michel Waisvisz is still around and, after a long hiatus, is back to composing, performing, and bending circuits again. Anyway, here is his classic album Crackle in its entirety as MP3:

Side A: A Cheval | Dutchjazzcircus | Crackles | Steve's Pipe | First Dancesteps
Side B: De Brug Gaat Open; Berliner Neustadtlament; Stradivarius | 4 Narrow Escapes | One For The Road

Instruments used are a Crackle synthesizer, a modified "Putney" VCS 3 (on "One For The Road"), a mouth organ (on "Berliner Neustadtlament"), and a (modified) springboard built by the late great Hugh Davies (on "Stradivarius"). You can read more about the Crackle box here, and even order it at STEIM (currently on backorder due to shortage of parts).

Tolerance - Anonym (MP3s)

Two weeks ago I posted part 3 of the hippie noise MP3 identification contest, and I am sorry to say that nobody won the big prize. It is now time to give away the solution. The band was a duo from Japan called Tolerance, and the track was Voyage au bout de la nuit from their first LP Anonym, recorded in 1979, released 1980 on Vanity Records. This album has been posted in an incomplete version on the (excellent) Direct Waves blog, so I thought it would be a good idea to repost it here in its entirety.

MP3s:
Side A: Two Owls | I wanna be a homicide | osteo-tomy | JUIN-Irénée | anonym
Side B: laughin in the shadows | through the glass | tecno-room | Voyage au bout de la nuit

While this LP is impossible to find, their second album Divin was reissued (again on vinyl) and might still be available. You can get a bit more info on Tolerance, listen to an excerpt of Divin, and probably still order the vinyl at Mimaroglu Music.

Part 4 of the MP3 identification contest is still open for another week. The solution has something in common with the Tolerance album, but that is all I can tell you.

Identify The MP3, Part 4

Since last week's puzzle has not been solved yet, I have decided to extend the MP3-identifying contest series with one more mystery MP3. This is again the first part of a longer track, and it has actually been played on WFMU, at least twice. The first one to name artist and/or album in the comments will get a prize in the mail.

As an added bonus, this album has something in common with last week's, so maybe you can still guess that one. Good luck!

Identify The MP3, Part 3

This is the third and probably last installment of the WFMU blog hippie noise identification contest, you can check out the previous ones here and here. Today you'll get only the first three minutes of a longer track: Mystery MP3.

The first one to ID the artist and/or album from which this is taken gets a prize in the mail. This album should have been played on WFMU, but surprisingly that hasn't happened according to the WFMU playlist search. However, I am sure that the blog readers will have little trouble identifying it in no time. Good luck!

Identify The MP3, Part 2

After last week's quiz turned out to be too easy (due to Gracenote MusicID), today's MP3 is slightly more obscure to foil the computers among our blog readers. Here is the song to ID for this week: Mystery MP3

The CD from which this track is taken might be too obscure for AMG and Gracenote, but it has been played on WFMU, according to the playlist search. Exactly once. And a different track. However, I am only asking that you find out who the artist is, and that you name it/him/her/them in the comments. The first one gets a prize in the mail. Good luck!

Identify The MP3, Part 1

Do you know obscure music? The stuff that is played on WFMU all the time, and is known among experts as hippie noise? Then you can surely identify the following song: Mystery MP3.

The first one to name the artist and title in the comments will get a prize in the mail (probably in mid-January, when I return from Europe). And if you don't win this time, look forward to next Sunday, when I will put up another MP3 to ID.

Christmas Songs, Boozing, and Cursing (MP3s)

Since I am too lazy didn't have much time this week, just a few random Christmas songs for you. Enjoy!

Butthole Surfers - Good King Wenceslas (MP3, the new hymn of AA)
The Legendary Tiger Man - Fuck Christmas, I Got The Blues (MP3, FCC-unfriendly, the Portuguese one-man band is supported by some foulmouthed children on this one)
Joseph Spence - Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town (MP3, Spence is drunk with an out-of-tune guitar and he doesn't know the lyrics either, and still turns out the best version of this song ever recorded, by far)
Zoogz Rift - Santa's On A Diet (MP3, FCC-unfriendly)

Cambodian Rocks (MP3s)

In 1996, the Parallel World label released the LP "Cambodian Rocks", a collection of Cambodian psych and garage music from the 60s and early 70s (probably), compiled by an American tourist named Paul Wheeler from some cassettes he bought in Phnom Penh. No information on the songs was provided at all, no artist names, no song titles, and no recording dates. Four years later, Parallel World reissued this compilation on CD with a few extra tracks, but still without any identifying information. Unfortunately, it is more than likely that many of the featured musicians, showing a definite Western influence in their music, were murdered by the Khmer Rouge regime which took over power in 1975. Certainly none of them ever received any money from the sales of this compilation. However, the music is wonderful, and here it is for your enjoyment.

Cambodian Rocks MP3s: Track 1 (Yol Aularong - Jeas Cyclo "Ride Cyclo") | Track 2 (Ros Sereysothea - Chnam oun Dop-Pram Muy "I'm 16") | Track 3 (Ros Sereysothea - Tngai Neas Kyom Yam Sra "Today I Drink Wine") | Track 4 (Yol Aularong + Tuk - Sou Slarp Kroam Kombut Srey "Rather Die Under the Woman's Sword" | Track 5 (Sinn Sisamouth - Srolanh Srey Touch "I Love Petite Girl") | Track 6 (Pan Ron - Rom Jongvak Twist "Dance Twist") | Track 7 (Pan Ron - Knyom Mun Sok Jet Te "I'm Unsatisfied") | Track 8 (Liev Tuk - Rom Sue Sue "Dance Soul Soul") | Track 9 (Ros Sereysothea + Seang Vanthy - Jam 5 Kai Thiet "Wait 5 More Months") | Track 10 (Ros Sereysothea + Seang Vanthy - Jah Bong Ju Aim "Old Sour & Sweet") | Track 11 (Sinn Sisamouth + Ros Sereysothea + Pan Ron + Dara Jamchan, composer Voy Ho - Maok Pi Naok) | Track 12 (Sinn Sisamouth - Phneit Oun Mean Evey "What Your Eyes Has?") | Track 13 (Yol Aularong - Yuvajon Kouge Jet "Broken Heart Man") | Track 14 (Meas Samon, composer Mai Bun - Jol Dondeung Kone Key "Going to Get Engaged" | Track 15 (Ros Sereysothea - Kerh Snae Kyoum Thai) | Track 16 (Ros Sereysothea - Chnang Jas Bai Chgn-ainj "Old Pot, Tasty Rice") | Track 17 (Ros Sereysothea + Dara Jamchan, composer Voy Ho - Kone Oksok Nas Pa "We're Very Bored, Dad!") | Track 18 (Ros Sereysothea - Kom Kung Twer Evey "Don't Be Mad") | Track 19 (Ros Sereysothea - Penh Jet Thai Bong Mouy "I Like Only You") | Track 20 (Pan Ron & In Yeng - Sralanh Srey Chnas "I love mean girl") | Track 21 (Sinn Sisamouth + Meas Samon, composer Voy Ho - Komlos Teng Bey "Three Gentlemen") | Track 22 (Ros Sereysothea - Retrey Yung Joup Knea "The Night We Met")

Thanks to Giles, Robin Edgerton, and especially to Pyro Tech for identifying the artists and song titles. Pyro Tech's comment contains more info and links that you should definitely check out. You should also download Giles' compilation of music from the same time. Sinn Sisamouth, Ros Sereysothea, and Pan Ron were big stars in Cambodia before 1975, and all three "disappeared" under the Khmer Rouge, most probably killed like millions of others.

If anyone has more information about these tracks and/or the musicians, please leave a comment.

A few more or less helpful links: Kevin Nutt reviewed the CD and gave a little more background information; the Californian band Dengue Fever did a great job covering some of these songs; confusingly, the record label Khmer Rocks released a series of compilations also called Cambodian Rocks which doesn't seem to have anything to do with the Parallel World release.

There is also a documentary film being made about the Cambodian rock music scene before the genocide: Don't Think I've Forgotten (Cambodia's Lost Rock and Roll). According to the website, they are currently looking for funding to finish post-production.

Goodbye Fred Chichin (MP3)

One of the greatest 80s pop bands, Les Rita Mitsouko, is no more. Founded in 1979, the French duo of Catherine Ringer and Frédéric Chichin remained active until very recently, and just released their 11th album Variéty in 2007. Sadly, Frédéric was diagnosed with cancer this year and died last Wednesday. I urge all of you to check out the Rita Mitsouko YouTube collection. More videos and live recordings than you can shake a stick at. The stuff from the new album sucks, but there is enough great old material to make up for it. As a bonus, here is a rare bilingual version of their first big hit in MP3 format: Marcia Baila (extended version).

Shopping (MP3s)

Shopping season has officially started now, and here are a few songs for the occasion from around the world. Enjoy them while you max out your credit cards.

MP3s:
Jonathan Richman & Modern Lovers - Rockin' Shopping Center (USA)
Snatch - Shopping For Clothes (UK)
Birth Control - Buy! (Krauts)
Otomo Yoshihide & Jon Rose - Japanese Doom Shoppers (Nihon)

This post is brought to you by the Tuttle Cottage Cheese Company (MP3).

You Gan't Boar Like An Eabla When You Work With Turkrys (MP3s)

Just in time for Thanksgiving, we bring you the compilation You Gan't Boar Like An Eabla When You Work With Turkrys, originally released on Amarillo Records in 1996. Nothing can summarize it better than the original liner notes:

This budget-priced sampler is designed for Young and Old people who enjoy keeping up on today's trends. If you are looking for top-quality entertainment at a popular price, your search is over. Over an Hour of Great music. Enjoy yourself! An Amarillo Production.

The original popular price was $5, and now it is free, which should make it even more popular. Enjoy great music, great comedy, and great phone calls, and watch out for the turkrys!

01 Anton LaVey - Hello Central, Give Me No Man's Land
02 Three Doctors Band - Holiday
03 U.S. Saucer - Scold Mourner
04 Secret Chiefs Trio - Assassin's Blade
05 Zip Code Rapists - Happy Like Larry (He Taught Me How To Die)
06 Dieselhed - Brown Dragon
07 Heavenly Ten Stems - Aaj Ki Raat (live)
08 Neil Hamburger - Looking For Laughs (FCC-unfriendly)
09 Charles Gocher - Show Me The Way To Go Home
10 Three Doctors - Cyclops
11 Zip Code Revue - Doctors Are Spreading Disease
12 Harvey Sid Fisher - Taurus
13 Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 - Every Day
14 Faxed Head - The Mechanic
15 Totem Pole of Losers - Jesus I Am Loving You
16 Today's Sounds - Let's Turkey Trot
17 Sun City Girls - Me And Mrs. Jones (alternate version)
18 Great Phone Calls (FCC doesn't like this either)

In memoriam Charles Gocher.

Before Rammstein: Feeling B (MP3s)

It might be surprising at first sight, but the roots of Germanic flame-thrower experts Rammstein lie in East German underground punk, with a slightly goofy bend. It all started back in 1983 in East Berlin, when a bunch of punks came together to form a band called Feeling B. After spending years in the musical underground, Feeling B made history in 1989 by releasing the first (and only) official punk album Hea Hoa Hoa Hoa Hea Hoa Hea on the state-run Amiga label, just one year before the German Democratic Republic got absorbed in the newly unified capitalist paradise of Germany.

Built around the core of singer Aljoscha Rompe, guitarist Paul Landers, and keyboarder Christian "Flake" Lorenz, Feeling B released two more albums until Paul, Flake, and drummer Christoph "Doom" Schneider joined Rammstein in 1993. Feeling B continued with a different line-up until the band called it quits in 1999.

The debut album of Feeling B is a high-energy masterpiece of German punk, and here are three selections to prove it: Kim Wilde (MP3, a song about a famous English gardener) | Lied von der unruhevollen Jugend (MP3, also known as Zabota u nas prostaya, or Song of the restless youth; features uncredited vocals by Rammstein singer Till Lindemann) | Tschaka (MP3)

If you want more, check out some Feeling B videos on YouTube: Du wirst den Gipfel nie erreichen (You will never reach the summit) | Ohne Bewusstsein (Without consciousness) | Langeweile (Boredom, about a guy who translates the bible because he is bored) | Trance (trippy and atonal) | Slamersong (weird performance on German TV) | Lied von der unruhevollen Jugend (great live footage)

If you know German, there is an amazing 1994 TV documentary "Flüstern & Schreien II" on YouTube in seven parts: I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII. It features lots of live footage and interviews with Rammstein, Feeling B, Santa Clan, Sandow, etc.

Sadly, Aljoscha Rompe died from an asthma attack in 2000, and bassist Christoph Zimmermann died in a plane crash in 1999.

The Inimitable Song Stylings Of SAM SACKS (MP3s)

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you may already have been exposed to small doses of Sam Sacks on Phonoanomalies for Hi-Fi Bugs and the Cool And Strange Thrift Store Compilation (where his last name is misspelled as "Sachs"). Now it is time for a whole album by the "singer's singer" Sam Sacks, who can "endow even simple lyrics with new meaning" and "sketch subtle variations around a familiar melody without violating its integrity". Without further ado, here are all the MP3s from the record Sing It Again, Sam! - The Inimitable Song Stylings of SAM SACKS, released on Arliss Records. I don't know the exact recording date, but I would guess that it came out in the late 60s, shortly after Mrs. Miller hit the big time.

Ol' Man River (MP3) - Frequently served up as a semi-classical number, this durable favorite is given a different treatment by Sam Sacks. Notice especially the lower register, where Sam's range and resonance are shown to their fullest.

You Too, You Too? (MP3) - Sam asks a musical question to which the answer is clear. Telling of a romantic encounter in Cuba, this beautiful ballad evokes the mood and magic of the tropics: full moon above swaying palms, the scent of bougainvillea blossoms, lovers silhouetted against a silver sea.

Secret Love (MP3) - The cantabile quality of Sam's vocal style is here brought into sharp focus. With cheery optimism, Sam dispels the melancholy mood of the opening strains, replacing the somber tones with notes of brighter hue. As his narrative moves toward the conclusion, the listener looks forward to its happily ending.

Yodel Blues (MP3) - A rollickin' roundelay done in the best Western tradition, proving that Sam is not only a sentimental balladeer but is equally at "home on the range". In lively tempo, Sam tells of his longing to return to the wide open spaces "to get a breath of air". His vivid vocalizing is sure to stir the same longing in the listener.

That Old Black Magic (MP3) - This popular perennial has had many interpretations during its long life but none quite like this one. Two "takes" are included - along with Sam's comments in between - as evidence of his tireless striving for perfection.

Diana (MP3) - A rock & roll hit of a few seasons back, "Diana" gives Sam still another chance to demonstrate his amazing versatility. Here, notice how verse and chorus are blended together into a smoothly integrated whole so as not to break the melodic continuity.

This was the first side, would you now please turn the record over for side two?