A CNQ Pop-Up Show on Mixcloud

Starting with one of my favorite Lomax field recordings followed by a Charley Patton classic, the show then veers off into novelty, hot jazz and blues courtesy the 78 RPMs available on the Internet Archive. Just shy of 40 minutes and worth a listen.

CNQ 2015 Retrospective

I'll be coming up with faves from the year's posts here shortly. Meanwhile, I had a lot of favorite other things this year, and this 30 Rock clip sums them up.

Bully's Feels Like is my favorite album of the year.

I became openly reggae and got big into dub and rocksteady. Check out The Upsetters' "Super Ape." Totally rad.

I discovered 19th-early 20th century composer Erik Satie's Gymnopédies.

I loved Tom Holkenborg's Mad Max: Fury Road score. I listened to his Black Mass score the other night and it's also good. Music scores in general are a new thing for me. I have never had a taste for them until recently.

The new Faith No More, Sol Invictus, was really good.

I like the Leon Bridges album.

The Lil Bub album "Science and Magic" might be the last great album of 2015.

Protomartyr's The Agent Intellect is top notch.

I recently discovered these next few. Johnny Burnette is amazing o.g. rockabilly. Some really raw, rockin' songs. This one is a little more kitschy:

The Vibrators are amazing o.g. punk. Here's the complete Peel Sessions.

Bluesman Tommy Johnson. The band Canned Heat got their name from this song:

Hollywood session man/jazz guitarist Howard Roberts. This is a cut from his excellent 1959 album, Good Pickin's.

Happy Halloween!

Oh man, I love Halloween novelty songs. Monsters are up to all sorts of monkeyshines. Here's a new one I found this season, courtesy WFMU's Rock'n'Soul Ichiban:

Googling that song I also found this different Witches Brew:

Hey girls, you know those sexy occupation costumes (sexy cop/sexy terrorist/sexy Mr. Peanut)? Let's get back to monsters, I say. Monsters can still be sexy! Elvira, to wit. A very sexy monster. Monstress. This song was written by Holly Knight, who wrote Tina Turner's "Better Be Good To Me," Heart's "Never," and a lot of other stuff for big names. She also co-wrote Pat Benetar's "Love Is A Battlefield" and Animotion's "Obsession," AND my favorite Aerosmith song, "Rag Doll," which she co-wrote with Aerosmith. Whoa. I had no idea.

From a great album:

My buddy turned me on to this cheesy Canadian goodness. It's not really a Halloween novelty song but I've been meaning to share it:

Youtube suggested this to me based on that Thor video - "Bewitched" definitely fits the Halloween theme, but it's not really a novelty song per se (though it is hysterical):

Happy Halloween. On a sorta related note because the cover is kinda Halloweeny and it's scary how good the album is, don't forget to listen to Run the Jewels 2. The Internet is hailing it as the end of the beginning for hip-hop ya know and I dunno if it's 100% that apocalyptic; it's easy to get caught up in joy over a great album and declare nothing else can come after it. But I'll agree that it is next level bonkers and it's fun to have a new favorite thing. The wife and I love it. I've had it on non-stop for the past two days.

Sleater-Kinney, Neil Diamond, Iceage, Buck Biloxi and the Fucks, Terrorizer, and More

Not-so-humble brag dept: Rockin' it to that new Sleater-Kinney box set. Each record is a different colored vinyl, the whole thing looks and sounds great. They're sold out of the colored vinyl (it was limited to 3,000 copies), but they're going to press some black vinyl that will be ready in December, per the Sub Pop webstore. Check out this treasure I found on Youtube:

Listened to the new Neil Diamond "Melody Road" today on google play, his first on Capitol Records. I dig it the most - it was a totally emotional journey down Melody Road, y'all. Classic Diamond, for sure - all original material. Here's a good Business Insider article and interview by Edouard Guihaire, writing for the AFP, and here's the Billboard review of the album, which also features a recap of his Reddit AMA. He's too cool. I sung Sweet Caroline at karaoke the other week.

I tried to get through the new Iceage today, Plowing Into the Fields of Love, put out by Matador. The only point of reference I have for this is that it's Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds-ish. It was interesting but I dunno if I can really relate to it, though full disclosure I clicked it off at the 5th song. He was singing something about a horse, or horses. They may have been running in a field.

Pitchfork gave the album an 8.5, and loyal readers may remember I think Pitchfork is mediocre so I imagine I'm on the right track by suspecting "Plowing Into the Fields of Love" may be art, but it falls short of being rock'n'roll. Where did I steal that line from? Seems like it was in a song I heard recently. Thanks, whoever I stole that from. Here is Iceage's single. I do like this one.

Buck Biloxi and the Fucks released a new batch of 14 songs on Bandcamp today called Culture Demanufacturer. I've listened to it three times today. On first listen, I thought it did not achieve the, uhm, primacy, or immediacy, of the first EP on Bandcamp, Live At Saturn Bar. But then I listened to it again on the ride home, and came to terms that it was more a recorded thing than a live thing. At home after a couple of scotch and waters, I'm pretty sure, Culture Demanufacturer is everything rock'n'roll turned out to be:

I learned about Buck and the Fucks just the other day from the excellent podcast, Dynamite Hemorrhage, who already has a new show out. Sweet. I was impressed with the first one I'd heard, last week's episode. Can't wait to listen tomorrow at work.

Here's another Buck Biloxi and the Fucks song I found:

There's another 12" coming out in a few months from HoZa Records.

I also listened to Terrorizer for the first time and realized the type of metal I'm into is grindcore. This album is important. Our descendents, robots, aliens, and a mix thereof will listen to this and think WTF. But ya know, in a good way:

New from Burger Records:

This raga from 1957 was in my Soundcloud stream, from Smithsonian Folkways:

Dolores Ware: "If I'm Wrong" (Mercury, 1955)

I found this in my dad's old 45 record album. From 1955 comes Dolores Ware's There's a Whole Lot of Fish In the Sea/If I'm Wrong (Mercury 70559). Both songs written by "Evelyn/Kirkland." I'm not sure who Evelyn is, but Kirkland is Leroy Kirkland, who had an incredible behind the scenes career as an "arranger, bandleader, guitarist and songwriter," per his Wikipedia article. Kirkland worked with a lot of cool people, I'll have to keep my eye out for his name from now on.

Ware has at least three 45s to her name from Mercury. There's this one, plus 1954's My Heart's In the Right Place/Please Tell Me Baby (Mercury 70394), and from '55, Can't Eat, Can't Sleep/Everything Will Be Alright (Mercury 70618).

On Mercury subsidiary Wing Records, founded in 1955, she had two releases: Thrill-La-Dill/Sweetness (W90017), and Is It True/I'm Through (W90032). Discogs says Is It True/I'm Through was released in '55.

The Mercury Labels: the 1945-1956 Era by Michel Ruppli and ‎Ed Novitsky (Greenwood Press, 1993) says Is It True, I'm Through, Thrill-a-Dill and Sweetness were all recorded at Mercury Sound Studio in NYC on July 28, 1955. From the same source, she recorded Your Hurting Heart/Everything Will Be Alright, and For Once In Your Life/Can't Eat Can't Sleep with a guy named Lee Austin (real name Austin Cromer), at Universal Recording Studios in Chicago on April 7, 1955. And at Fine Recording Studios in NYC, on May 14, 1954, she recorded Just To Be With You (unissued)/My Heart's In the Right Place, and Tell Me Baby (Just What I Say)/I'm Selfish (both unissued). There may be more of her in that book but that's just what I came up with on the Google preview.

She also had at least one release on Sharon Records, Strange/Falling In Love. No info on Sharon Records but apparently that one is worth some cash in mint condition.

A Google search turns up little biographical information but she was mentioned in Billboard several times in 1955, in album reviews and ads for Wing Records. The Billboard review for Thrill-La-Dill is positive but here's the lukewarm Billboard review of There's A Whole Lot of Fish In the Sea/If I'm Wrong.

According to Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebooks page on the 5 Crowns, on November 13, 1955, Ware performed at Harlem's Rockland Palace Ballroom, along with the 5 Crowns, Ray Charles and the Moonglows, the Cadillacs, Charlie & Ray, and the New Yorkers Five. What a line-up.

Thrill-La-Dill has made it onto at least a couple of jump and "early ladies of rock" type compilations.

If the Dolores Ware mentioned in this 2011 Times-Picayune article is the same woman who recorded these songs, she was 76 in 2011 and was still active as an organist and music director for a concert at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival that year. That would put her born in 1935, and just 20 years old when she had her big year in 1955.

The A-side of my copy is scratched and jumps too much, but here's the excellent If I'm Wrong, an obscure gem of an R&B song if ever there was one:

If I'm Wrong:

So if you know more about Ms. Ware, I'd love to hear it. Leave a comment or drop me an e-mail. Here's all the Dolores Ware I could find on Youtube:

Can't Eat, Can't Sleep:

Everything Will Be Alright:

There's A Whole Lot of Fish In The Sea:

Thrill-La-Dill was also co-written by Leroy Kirkland. Great song:

Sweetness:

Is It True:

Here's that one from NYC's Sharon Records. Recorded before 1955? After? Not sure.

Tommy Zang with Frank Metis and Orchestra: White Silence b/w With The Good Lord Willing (Mark Records, 1959)

Some googling didn't uncover anything about Tommy Zang, except he recorded for a label called Mark in the late 50s and for Hickory in the 60s. I think he may have been Canadian. He may have a daughter and a grandson who post in Youtube comments, which is pretty cool. I'd love to know more about Tommy Zang.

Discogs has three Tommy Zang 7"'s listed, and 45cat has five. Gemm and MusicStack have more for sale. Youtube has a few of his songs posted. But none of them have this particular record.

Zang was backed on these two songs by Frank Metis & His Orchestra. A little googling didn't uncover much about them either.

Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies is a cool site and it has this listed as Zang's first single, from '59. "White Silence" was written by one Frank Cavall, who is another mystery to me. The flip, "With the Good Lord Willing," was written by Zang himself.

Both are unusual and enjoyable. It's pop, it's orchestral, it's a little country, maybe? White Silence sounds like the theme song to Blazing Saddles, to me, anyway. This is some unique stuff. So enjoy it, Quieteers:

White Silence:

With the Good Lord Willing:

Another mystery is the label, Mark Records, outta Utica, New York. This rockabilly song was also released on Mark:

Blues, Folk, & Field Recordings

I've been listening to a lot of blues, folk, and field recordings on Google Play. Here's a little Youtube mix, some stuff I've never heard before mixed in with some of my favorites. If I wanted to make this an interesting post I'd do a little bio or some tidbits for each artist. Tonight, however, other than the meager links presented below, I humbly request you google what you're curious about for further information.

Here's the lyrics to Early In The Mornin', there's a couple of raunchy verses:

Here's some backstory on Long John.

LaVern Baker: "I Cried A Tear" b/w "Dix-A-Billy" (Atlantic, 1958)

LaVern Baker was an R&B singer who had a string of hits in the '50s and '60s. "I Cried A Tear" was written by one Al Julia, and I think that might be the only song he ever wrote. The uptempo "Dix-A-Billy" is credited to Harris-Evans-Reardon. The Harris of that trio is Woody Harris, who wrote songs for Elvis, Bobby Darrin, and Della Reese. The Evans is Paul Evans, who wrote that Bobby Vinton song "Roses Are Red (My Love)," among other things. The final name is Jack Reardon, who wrote the lyrics for "The Good Life."

This 45 was put out by Atlantic in 1958. According to Wikipedia, "I Cried A Tear" went to #2 on the R&B charts and #6 on the pop charts in '59.

"Jim Dandy" was her biggest hit, but Baker had an interesting career and life. She acted on TV and film, performed on Broadway, was the second female solo artist inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and recorded a raunchy x-rated songs with Jackie Wilson. She lost both legs to diabetes in 1994 but continued to perform until she passed away in 1997, aged 67, from cardiovascular disease. Her last recording was of my favorite Harry Nilsson song, "Jump Into the Fire," which she did for a Nilsson tribute album.

I borrowed this from my in-laws, and someone has already put both songs back to back on Youtube, so here they are:

Here's her version of "Jump Into the Fire." It's boss!

Here's that dirty song she did with Jackie Wilson in 1965, "Think Twice." Pretty awesome, super-dirty, NSFW!

Carl Smith: "Hey Joe!" b/w "Loose Talk!" 7" (Columbia, 1963)

According to 45cat, Columbia released this Carl Smith 45 in 1963 as part of their Hall of Fame series. The A-side is a single from 1953, "Hey Joe!" (not the Hendrix song), and the flip is a single from 1954, "Loose Talk."

Per Wikipedia, Carl Smith was from Tennessee, known as "Mister Country" in his heyday, was June Carter's first husband, and was one of country music's most successful artists during the '50s. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2003 and passed away of natural causes in 2010, at age 82.

"Loose Talk" was written by Freddie Hart and was number one on the Billboard C&W charts for seven weeks.

"Hey Joe!" was written by Boudleaux Bryant, who co-wrote with his wife the Everly Brothers songs "All I Have To Do Is Dream," "Bye Bye Love," "Wake Up Little Susie," and that Nazareth song you love. And a lot of other songs, including Bob Moore's "Mexico," which is a cool song.

"Hey Joe!" spent eight weeks at number one.

I borrowed this 45 from my in-laws, but Youtubers have already posted both songs. So here they are, and here's another 45 off my checklist! Sweet.

The Chanters + Damien Youth + De La Soul

Happy Valentine's Day, if you want to pretend this is a real and not manufactured by the MAN holiday, I mean. Just kiddin', I don't mind it. It is manufactured by the Man tho.

Put out on Deluxe and distributed by King Records in 1958, the Chanters "No No No" b/w "I Make This Pledge (To You)" is tight doo-wop action. The A-side, "No No No," is particularly rockin', although the chorus, "no means yes," is a little weird. But it was probably different times back then.

As a parting shot, I woke up today with the opening to this Damien Youth song on repeat in my head -- haven't heard this peach in years. But the verse kept playing in my head on repeat, ya know, and it wasn't until I was in the car on the way to work that I got to the chorus, about every day being Valentine's Day. What a genuinely pleasant sentiment, even if it is a pretend holiday manufactured by the MAN.

Enjoy yourself. Don't forget, tonight only, De La Soul is giving away their entire discography for free (except for one, their most recent album).

Patti Page (With Jack Rael And His Orchestra): Little Crazy Quilt b/w Keep Me In Mind (Mercury, 1955) & Red Sovine: "Don't Drop It" b/w "Don't Be The One" (Decca, 1954) - CNQ 45 Record Holder Series Episode 3!

I get manic sometimes and will work tirelessly on a project until I burn out, and then I won't touch it for six months, or worse, I'll never come back to it. I'll try to pace myself with my 45 Record Holder Series so that won't happen (but I can't promise anything, as I'm having a lot of fun with it so far).

In case you didn't catch the first two posts of this series, and don't feel like scrolling down to take a look at them, what I'm doing is this: I've got a collection of 24 or so 45s from the '50s and '60s in this little Decca branded 45 holder I aquired from my dad the last time I was home for a visit. My goal for this series is to go through the book, in the order the 45s are inserted in the sleeves, and do a post for each one. A lot of 'em are readily available on Youtube so for that stuff I'll just post the Youtube clip, do a little write-up and move on -- if it's not on Youtube or someone else's blog then I'll post an mp3 for educational purposes.

So this is another Mercury release - I forgot to mention the Ralph Marterie and Joe Carson 45s in the holder are both on Mercury; the Twin-Tones was released on RCA Victor. Patti Page was one Clara Ann Fowler, born and raised in Oklahoma, and according to Wikipedia is "one of the best known female artists in traditional pop music." She died January 1st, 2013, at age 85. Here's her discography.

In the Discogs entry for this 45, it says "Keep Me In Mind" was one of Burt Bacharach's earliest songs to be recorded. "Keep Me In Mind" is a good song but "Little Crazy Quilt" isn't anything I want to listen to again.

Red Sovine was one Woodrow Wilson Sovine, born in West Virginia, 1918, dead come Nashville, 1980. Reading about his career and his hits on his wikipedia page, as well as Patti Page's entry, reminds me that I am woefully more ignorant of 20th century American music than I could have ever realized. Huzzah to still learnin' stuff!

Here's the Discogs entry for "Don't Drop It"/"Don't Be The One", and his discography, also courtesy Discogs.

Fellow music blogger Country. & Western shared "Don't Drop It" back in February 2012.

Here's "Don't Drop It" courtesy Youtube:

I can't find the flip, "Don't Be The One," on Youturbs or a blog, so here it is, for educational purposes only:

The Twins (Jim and John): "Jo-Ann's Sister" b/w "Who Knows The Secret" (1958): CNQ 45 Record Holder Series Episode 2

The Twins, AKA the Twin-Tones, were Jim and John Cunningham, from Hicksville, Long Island. Bruce Pollack has a really excellent interview with John Cunningham from March 2013 about the brothers' 1957 single, "Jo-Ann,". The twins wrote Jo-Ann but didn't write the follow-up "Jo-Ann's Sister" or the b-side "Who Knows The Secret". I highly recommend reading Pollack's interview with John Cunningham. It is a fascinating look into a little slice of early rock'n'roll history. At 17, the Twin-Tones were on American Bandstand, they had their song co-opted by another act due to weird copyright laws, they got to meet Fats Domino, Buddy Holly, and more (including "Bobby Darin before he was Bobby Darin"), all the while with the threat of the draft and the weird spectre of the record industry machine looming over their young heads.

Here's the 45cat listing for "Jo-Ann's Sister."

Here's a listing on ebay for the "Jo-Ann's Sister" 45. They're wanting $25 for it!

Discogs listing for Teenagers Love The Twins.

Amazon has the same album on MP3 via a label called Hallmark.

Finally, here's Jo-Ann's Sister, which someone has already posted on the youtubes:

For educational purposes only, here's "Who Knows The Secret," the b-side to Jo-Ann's Sister:

Who Knows The Secret:

Ralph Marterie and His Orchestra (1955) and Joe Carson (1954): CNQ 45 Record Holder Series Episode 1!

Last Christmas I nabbed from my dad a Decca 45 RPM record holder that contained 24 45s from the '50s and '60s. I think they were his parents, but they coulda also been his older brother's, I'm not sure (Note the holder itself has the Decca label on it; the 45s it contains are from various labels). It's a lot of pop, country, some rockabilly. A while back I featured from this collection "Steer Stomper," the Pacers' sweet ode to the Arkansas Razorbacks, but that's the only one I've posted on CNQ so far (the embed and the link to download that Steer Stomper mp3 are both dead, btw -- let me know if you'd like me to re-up it).

A lot of the jams on these 45s are readily available on Youtube. As an ongoing project, I think I'll go through the twenty-four 45s, in the order that they're in the little holder, and post the youtube embed if there is one; otherwise I'll share the mp3. So, starting from the first 45 in the holder, here we go!

First up is Ralph Marterie And His Orchestra's 1955 Mercury release, "Remember Me" b/w "Blue Mirage (Don't Go)." As is typical with this type of fare, the B-side instrumental is the cooler track. Check 'em both out here tho:

Next up is some sweet country from Joe Carson, who I'd never heard of. This is a real find for me. "Little" Joe Carson began his singer/songwriter career at age 16, doesn't have a wikipedia page I can find (but here's his allmusic bio), and this particular 45 (another Mercury release), "Show Me Now" b/w "Don't Enter," isn't listed in Discogs or 45cat. Here's the links I found relevant to Little Joe:

In Memoriam LP, a best of available via Discogs

This Amazon review about a more recent Carson retrospective is informative.

Here's a cool blog post from New Jersey DJ Richard Sibello about Carson, featuring the excellent song "The Last Song (I'm Ever Gonna Sing)."

Finally, here's the two really great Carson songs on my 45, courtesy Youtube user lillymoons, whose channel is worth checking out for some classic country. This 45 actually looks to be kinda rare. I will take no less than a million dollars for it (OBO). Email me if interested.

SPOTIFY: 60 MINUTES W/ MATT EPISODE #3

CNQ X-Mas Mixtape

Merry Christmas/Happy End of the Mayan Long Calander! Here's a little mix for either/or.

First up is a German 45 I got from The Vintage Freak. It came sans sleeve. It's on a label called Polydor, #21 470. All the text is in German which I dunno much of at all, and there's no date. Five songs, mostly chimes.

Klingender Advent: O Tannenbaum

Download:O Tannenbaum

Next up, from Realistic's "Christmas Wonderland" (51-3032), is John Gary's "Winter Wonderland," which I think was originally released in '64:

John Gary: Winter Wonderland

"Christmas Wonderland" was originally released in '84 but this is from the '85 re-issue. Sorry about the skip in the end.

Download:John Gary: Winter Wonderland"

From 1965's "Firestone presents: Your Favorite Christmas Music Volume 4, comes "Ding Dong Merrily on High," by The Young Americans, which is probably also the name of a punk group circa 1982. This album is also heavy on Julie Andrews but she's not on this track, I don't think.

The Young Americans: Ding Dong Merrily on High

Download: Ding Dong Merrily On High

Courtesy Grand Prix Records, 1967" Gene Autry sings "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer":

Gene Autry: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Download:Gene Autry: Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Finally, from Dot's 1959 release of Pat Boone's "White Christmas" (DLP 3222):

Pat Boone: Santa Claus Is Comin To Town

A Pat Boone Christmas might be a little too white. Nevertheless, happy end of the world!

Andre Kostelanetz and His Orchestra: Lure of the Tropics (Columbia Masterworks A-1099, 1955)

For Christmas I hope to get some serious record cleaning stuff, but until then, please enjoy the snaps, crackles and pops on this lovely piece of exotica.

Here's the wikipedia entry on Andre Kostelanetz, "one of the pioneers of easy listening music." Very interesting music history.

There musta originally been three 7" discs included with this sleeve but I only have two. Presented are all the songs on my copy that don't skip. I picked this up at Vintage Freak over in Hurst for a nominal fee. Totally worth whatever I paid for it - probably under $5.00.

The Moon of Manakoora

Download The Moon of Manakoora">The Moon of Manakoora

Kashimiri Song

Download Kashmiri Song

Malaguena

Download Malaguena

Poinciana

Download Poinciana

Coleman Hawkins All Stars with Django Reinhardt RCA 7EG8393 (1958)

I got this in Paris for ten euros, but no amount of real money will get me to part with it now. 45cat's entry for this 7" sez it was put out in 1958, and the back cover sez it was recorded in Paris, April 28, 1937.

Aside from it being the greatest tenor sax and the greatest jazz guitarist of all time, the All Stars were an impressive bunch themselves: Benny Carter, Andre Ekyan, Alix Combelle, Stephane Grappelly, Eugene d'Hellemes, and Tommy Benford on drums.

Here, somebody has it up for sale on eBay.

Download Honesuckle Rose

Download Crazy Rhythm

Download Out of Nowhere

Download Sweet Georgia Brown

Golden Gate Quartet: Negro Spirituals (1959)

Bonjour, Clean, Nice, Quieteers! Here's a 45 I picked up in Paris for a Euro.  This was made in France by Concert Hall, and is four cuts from the LP of the same name.

Here's the wiki page for the Golden Gate Quartet.

"Go Where I Send Thee" and "When The Moon Goes Down" are both pretty awesome.  Enjoy!

Where I Send Thee

Download: Go Where I Send Thee

Download: When The Moon Goes Down"

York Brothers: "I Want My Baby Back" (1957)

Looks like this 45" was The York Brothers' only Decca single. The A-side, "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby," written by Webb Pierce and Johnny Mathis, is readily available on Youtube -- and yes, it's that Beatles song you're thinking it is. But this down-tempo B-side was written by the York Brothers (Leslie and George) themselves. Not that catchy but entirely listenable, and it looks like the Internet has never heard it. Borrowed from my in-laws' collection.

Download I Want My Baby Back