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Jimmy Driftwood's First Record (MP3)

Jimmy Driftwood (1907-1998) has been a musical hero of mine ever since the early '90's, at which point I first heard his song "Fidi Diddle Um-a Dazey" on a tape recording of a folk music radio show from 1960. That sent me back to my family's own tapes from WFMT's "The Midnight Special" folk program from the same era, and the few Driftwood songs that were heard on those tapes, including the wonderful "Rattlesnake Song". I've also always known his amazing song "He Had a Long Chain On", via the recording by Odetta. And of course, nearly everyone my age grew up knowing "The Battle of New Orleans" via the number one hit version sung by Johnny Horton in 1959. 

I find Driftwood endlessly entertaining, endearing and fascinating. His songs are catchy and direct, with good humor, and often a really upbeat view of life. Plus there's his infectious vocal style and the unique sound of his homemade guitar. An excellent, lengthy biography of Driftwood can be found here.

Just as I was discovering Jimmy Driftwood, the folks at Bear Family were releasing a box set of his entire output for RCA Victor (five albums, 1958-1962), which I happily ordered (that "Americana" box set on Bear Family remains available, and highly recommended). I later was able to find his more obscure Monument albums from the mid '60's, and a few self-released albums from the '70's. 

But until this month, I didn't know that he'd had a one-off release six years before he signed with RCA Victor, in 1952, one what appears to have a small regional label, Cardinal. I was happy to be able to put my hands on a copy shortly after finding out about this record's existence.

Each side features Driftwood in a musical setting not found on his later records. The A-side, "Grapevine News", features a few of the things I love the most about Driftwood's stuff - his humorous lyrics and singular style of singing, attached to a Western Swing track, which works quite nicely. The flip side "Precious Peace of Mind" has more of a Gospel feeling, and the lyrics have a lot in common with that genre, although there is no actual mention of Christ, God or Christianity anywhere in the lyrics. 

I think that I now own everything that Jimmy Driftwood ever released. I wish there was more. He was the real deal. 

Jimmy Driftwood with Vi Keys and the Drifters - Grapevine News (MP3)

Jimmy Driftwood with Vi Keys and the Drifters - Precious Peace of Mind (MP3)

Grapevine Label (JPG)  |  Precious Peace Label (JPG)

Youtube postings of the songs I mentioned earlier can be found with these links: 

My favorite Driftwood song, "Fidi Diddle Um-A Dazey"

The ridiculous and amazing "Rattlesnake Song"

"He Had a Long Chain On" by Odetta and by Jimmy Driftwood

Jimmy's original version of "The Battle of New Orleans"

"Beethoven" from True Comics 29, November 1943 / Plus Two More Features from 1946

Today in the Comics Supplement we find more educational material from some 'non-fiction' comic books from the 1940s, specifically the yellowed pages of True Comics and Picture News magazines.

We've talked previously at BOTB about the proprietors of True Comics here, and Picture News was helmed by editors Leigh Danenberg and Emile Gauvreau with art editor John A. Lehti assisted by Henry Cordes. More information about them seems to be hard to come by, but I did publish another piece from this comic book series here, and we'll be seeing more from that same unknown artist in todays section.

We'll lead off with Ludwig Van Beethoven and then join Picture News for stories about Benny Goodman and Captain Robert Crawford (who he?).  All of this knowledge and color pictures too - right after the jump!

In case you didn't feel like showing up - Volume 67

Earcandy for your eyes

Death in June in Brooklyn at the Bell House on September 20, 2013.

After the break: Grails at Saint Vitus

Down by the Riverside with Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Watch the 30 minute show on Network Awesome

Before Bob Dylan, before Joni Mitchell, before Chuck Berry, heck, even before Elvis Presley, Sister Rosetta Tharpe was rockin’ it gospel with her electric guitar at a time when such a thing was unimaginable. Born in 1915, the Arkansas native began playing guitar at the age of four and performing with her mother at Southern tent revivals from the age of six. Tharpe stayed on the road until her untimely death at the age of 58, confounding critics and supporters alike with her blend of the spiritual and the secular and inspiring scores of performers along the way.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe, born Rosetta Nubin, began performing for charismatic evangelical church audiences with her mother in Chicago, where she achieved fame for being such a unique child talent. Throngs of church attendees would flock to Chicago’s Church of God in Christ to witness the “the singing and guitar playing miracle,” performing hymns and dancing on the church piano. From the very beginning, 'Little Rosetta Nubin' understood the importance of a strong stage presence, something that she would carry with her throughout her performing life.

In the 1930’s, Nubin moved to New York, married for the first time, changed her name, and in 1938 was the first gospel artist signed to Decca Records. Her first singles, such as “This Train” and “Rock Me” transformed traditional gospel hymns into rollicking, rhythmic recitations. “Rock Me” was actually a spiritual called “Hide Me in Thy Bosom,” that Tharpe repurposed into a sultry and sensual seduction. Naturally, her

1971 - It's a Kellogg's Year! (MP3's)

Here's an interesting little seven inch, 33 1/3 RPM record from Kellogg's, all about their most popular products in 1971, which, they proclaim, would be "A Kellogg's Year". 

There are eight songs in total, ranging from just under a minute to just over two minutes. I suspect this was for internal use, perhaps at meetings of some sort, or to be given to the employees. I say that largely because of track three. 

Track three, "Low Noon", is easily the high point of the record. It's a parody of Johnny Cash's singing style and musical style, in which the lyrics make repeated fun of those who claim that that Frosted Flakes have little or no nutritional value. The dismissive way these complaints are handled (especially since those complaints were certainly spot-on) makes it unlikely that this was ever meant to be aired in public. I'll let you enjoy them for yourself rather than going into any more detail. 

Of the other tracks, three are instrumentals, including one which claims to be about Sugar Pops, but it's hard to tell without any lyrics (the rough edit in the middle of that one is on the record, it's not an MP3 glitch). I also get a kick out of the way that "The American Breakfast" is described - the first word in the description is "Sugar". 

Apologies for the poor sound quality, especially on side two - this record is fairly beat up. 

1.) Kellogg's - Overture (MP3)

2.) Kellogg's - The K-‘71 March (MP3)

3.) Kellogg's - Low Noon (MP3)

4.) Kellogg's - Wakin' Up (Rice Krispies) (MP3)

5.) Kellogg's - The K-‘71 March (Reprise) (MP3)

6.) Kellogg's - The American Breakfast (Corn Flakes) (MP3)

7.) Kellogg's - The Hard Rider (Sugar Pops) (MP3)

8.) Kellogg's - Finale - It’s a Kellogg’s Year (MP3)

Record A Side Label (JPG)

Record B Side Label (JPG)

"Going-Going-Real Gone" and "The Unsuspecting"

Today while I'm still out of town, let's look at two oddball stories here in the Comics Supplement, one by an unknown creative team from 1954, and another by old favorites Steve Ditko and Stan Lee from 1962.

Our first story comes from the fourth and last issue of MAD magazine clone Madhouse, the Sept./Oct. issue from 1954, an infamous and surreal little yarn - Going-Going-Real Gone. A bigger bunch of screwed-up and made-up 'hip' lingo and situations I could hardly come up with!  The only firm credits we have for the book are of its editors: Ruth Roche, and art editor Sam Iger, who both had long and interesting careers before working on this Ajax-Farrell comic book line in the 1950s. Words fail one on this tale, you'll see what I mean.

We'll close with a bonus short story from Amazing Adult Fantasy magazine number 13, June 1962, as brought to us by Ditko and Lee in "The Magazine that Respects Your Intelligence!", and it deals with one of their favorite recurring themes: the power and influence of television. 

So hold onto your intelligence and your sanity against the assult about to come - right after the jump!

In case you didn't feel like showing up - Volume 66

Earcandy for your eyes

Wrekmeister Harmonies playing live at Saint Vitus in Brooklyn on August 30, 2013.

After the break: Negative Plane and Poison Idea at Saint Vitus

Jamaica-Queens-The World; Psychic Limb live on the My Castle of Quiet pseudo-finale

What makes a great grind band? Doing as much as you can in an average of 43 seconds' song duration, flexing those ferocious chops from all angles, and, though this may be hard to explain to someone whose ears are attuned to pop music and the traditional song form, a certain "catchiness," an anthemic propulsion that will make the listener/receiver want to propel oneself into the pit without a care for personal safety. Psychic Limb have all these qualities, in spades.

I've liked these guys from the second I heard them, they stand out mightily from the pack of late 2000s grind on bandcamp and elsewhere, and they make records that stand firmly amongst the classics of the genre. And yes, they can and do reproduce it all in person.

For months, drummer Casey and I tried to schedule a live radio appearance for PL, and finally were able to line something up for the final MCoQ weekly broadcast on June 7, 2013.

This set represents their latest (and reportedly final) release, Jamaica. They still seem to be playing a few shows here and there, so if you have the chance, catch them live while you still can.

Huge thanks to live-sound engineer Juan Aboites, who deftly scultped many a live Castle session in the show's final months of its original tenure. Thanks also to Tracy Widdess, for taking these photos of the band, and for co-hosting the last show with me in person, flying in from Vancouver Island, BC, to do so. Full broadcast archive can be streamed here.

Track titles, though they hardly seem to matter, are as follows: 22, 27, 19, 20, 29, 28, 24, 26, 21, 23, 30, 25. Psychic Limb's set is presented here as it should be, as one continuous mp3.

Andrzej Żuławski: A Man Possessed

by David Selden

Watch the whole film on Network Awesome

Andrzej Żuławski’s “intellectual horror film”, Possession begins with the protagonist’s return from an unspecified but apparently dangerous assignment. In an empty room at Tempelhof Airport in Berlin, Mark’s employers plead with him to stay but he is adamant. His “subject” (and his pink socks) will elude them for now. Returning to his bland apartment in a 70’s housing complex, Mark (played somewhat woodenly by Sam Neil), finds his wife is leaving him for Heinrich, an intellectual martial arts expert with a wardrobe of silk shirts.

From there the film spirals into a queasy out of control psycho-drama, with acts of gratuitous violence appearing out of the blue with increasing frequency. Schlock is piled upon schlock until it almost becomes a bonfire of all the vanities of European art house cinema of this period, as well as being a cathartic scream and (perhaps) a pitch black comedy in the tradition of the Grande Guignol.

Żuławski, a protégé of Andrej Wadja, was never a director shy of overstatement. Here in Possession, his first and only English language film, scripted in the midst of a messy divorce case, he piles it on thick with

Another Set of Radio JIngle Demos AND a Advertising Sales Pitch (Exploring My Reel-to-Reel Catacombs, Volume 43) (MP3's)

Back in June, I posted a tape containing some radio station and advertising jingles, from circa 1957, all of them apparently demos. There was a nice response, and I got to thinking that there was at least one other tape from the same batch which was similarly marked. 

Well I've found that second box this week, and while it doesn't have the variety or length of the first tape, there are still some nice items. These are also all radio jingles, and from seemingly all over the country, too. but there are no products advertised here. And again, based on the box, it appears that these are demos, rather than finished products.

These are SO short (there are 13 jingles in barely 5 1/2 minutes), that I did not separate them into separate tracks, but I will list here the radio stations which are advertised, with the cities where mentioned:

KMYR 710 Denver - WIL 1430 - KJOE 1480 Shreveport - WINS Weather Jingle - KOIM 1290 - KDOK 1330 Tyler - WHB 710 - KCBQ - WKDA Sports Jingle - WQAM 560 Miami - WSAI 1360 News Jingle - KLIF Dallas (two jingles for this station)

Radio Stations Jingles Demo Reel (MP3) 

And now, here's another radio related tape which may be of interest. Whoever owned this tape used it again to record some fairly awful country music (and they didn't even record it very well), but through the magic of half-track recording, the original material is still present on the second side of the tap, so we all get to here it here. 

This is a tape from an advertising jingle company called Pepper Sound Studios, from some time in the early to mid 1960's. The tape begins with some testimonials from satisfied customers in the radio industry (heard in part one, below), then moves on to the meat of the material, a series of commercials done for a variety of products - examples of the work that Pepper Sound Studios was capable of. This can be heard in part two, below, followed by a sales pitch, also in part two. 

Pepper Sound Studios Presentation, Part One: Testimonials (MP3)

Pepper Sound Studios Presentation, Part Two: Sample Ads and Sales Pitch (MP3)