As if that "Better Than The Beatles" comp we recently posted wasn't enough to blow a baby-boomer's brain, now we've got 23 mind-boggling Bob Dylan covers: celebrity actors who have no business making "music" (Eddie Albert, Sebastian Cabot, Telly Savalas, and yep, The Shat himself), absurdly wimped-out easy-listening crooners and orchestras, milquetoast pop-folkies, bubblegum heartthrobs (Bobby Sherman! Dino Desi & Billy!), punk new-wavers (Bryan Ferry, and even Da Bruddahs), and a couple outright parodies.
Off the top of my head, I can think of some others (a Moog version of "Lay Lady Lady," Johnny Cash, and didn't Hugo Montenegro do a Dylan album?) but believe me, this is more than enough to do your head in. Something's going on here, but I really don't know what it is, Mr. Jones. This comes to us courtesy of MadJon, who gifted us with the "Disco Sellout" collection we posted here a few months ago.
The recent news about the wack-job Elvis (and others) impersonator sending politicians envelopes laced with deadly ricin reminded me of the pioneer of this genre, Robert Alberg. When we wrote about him some years ago, he was being sentenced to five years' probation, mental-health treatment and placement in a group home, and his album was no longer available, so I posted it. Incredibly, he's back, selling both his original collection, and a new one. And he sounds even worse than he did on his miserable first album (as you can see, he isn't looking too hot either). Still, let's hope he sticks to singing/song-writing, and doesn't go back to ricin-cooking.
"Purple Amethyst," available thru Amazon and iTunes, is ten "songs" of lethargic, monotone vocals; obsessive/compulsive lyrics (about sand, beaches, rocks); and atonal guitar "playing" that makes Jandek's sound like Eric Clapton. Need I tell you that this is outsider-music gold?
The videos of Alberg's young protege, Kevin Curtis, are striking in their banality - he's just some guy singing over karaoke tapes, occasionally adopting ludicrous fake mustaches. He gets paid to do this stuff? Jeez, I could do that. Curtis needs to get together with Alberg, so he can learn a thing or two about originality. They could cover "House of the Ricin Sun." Or Johnny Cash's "Five Feet High and Ricin." I got a million of 'em , folks!
I think you can see why I picked up this private-press piece of vintage vinyl recently - it truly is a slice of authentic Americana, a peek into un-hip rural backroads (in this case, Pennsylvania Dutch country) where Ma & Pa go out on a Saturday night to the local tavern and dance to the kind of music left out of the history books, played by the sort of performer usually considered to be not worthy of critical consideration.
Recorded live, Mr. Dutchman is clearly having a good ol' time, chatting with the crowd, letting loose with whoops and yee-haws! on occasion. Everything that doesn't sound like a polka (even the Elvis cover) is delivered in a wave-your-mug drinking song waltz-time. And might I direct your attention to the song that features our man playing the accordion and tap-dancing (!) at the same time. They don't make 'em like this any more. (Or do they? I suspect that this fellow might be the same guy.)
If I may just speak like a Rat-Pack era showbiz-type for a moment and say, "Marvelous stuff what the kids these days are doing." Especially when the kids are some Sarasota, Florida teenagers making their own instruments out of junk. Too bad they've only got one song up for listening/purchase right now, a delightfully messed-up version of Elvis' "Hound Dog," scored for cereal box-guitars, garbage drums, a saxophone made from a popcorn push toy, and the miracle of the Glass Bottle Idiophone:
This interview features bits of other songs (also oldies remakes), as does this video, which includes a bitchin' version of The Surfaris' "Wipeout," as well as an up-close look at those nutty instruments:
I'd take this ramshackle version of "Satisfaction" over the Stone's any day:
But what do they use for strings? Regular guitar strings? And will they ever cover The Cramps?
There are lots of foreign-language covers out there, but what really intruiges me is when non-Anglo/Americans approach the material from their own ethnic/cultural background. Sometimes it's kinda clueless, like the South African group who sound like they really don't know their rockabilly (tho I'm sure they know rock better then most Americans know mbaqanga), while others are clearly going for a cross-over audience, e.g. the "chutney" version of Arrow's soca classic "Feelin' Hot Hot Hot": East Indians go to the West Indies. I'm pretty sure the Bappi Lahiri track was no more then the prolific Bollywood composer finding himself short on material and thinking no-one would notice if he ripped-off some Western oldies, but Tuva's Yat-Kha, on the other hand, apparently is a big fan of Western pop, and performing it in his "throat-singing" style seemed like the natural way to go - a tribute to his boyhood favorites. And Panta Siklja Nafta might be the first reported sighting of Serbian outsider music.
Plenty here were done simply to cash in on the teen rock market that emerged across the world by the 1960s. Jah Division, and The Ramones bossa, and steel pan covers are just good old-fashioned gimmicks, but fun ones, and The Dragons have even been accused of being somewhat of a hoax - their release, covering the likes of The Sex Pistols and the Rolling Stones - was supposedly smuggled out of China after the band overheard Western music on Hong Kong radio, but some have levied the accusation that they were, in fact, Chinese folks living in France at the time, and a smart-aleck record label put them up to the task. Who knows - the Pistols on traditional Chinese instruments sound amazing, and that's all I care about.
Amy Beth is an Elvis impersonator who sounds NOTHING like Elvis. She does, however, make a great cat-being-run-over-by-a-steamroller impersonator. And if she does indeed have her own band, they do a great impression themselves - of cheezy drum-machine karaoke backing tracks. "Heartbreak Hotel" like you've never heard it before. You've been warned:
My ears, my ears! Hey masochists, buy a whole album of this stuff. What, you want more?!? Here's a dog of a "Hound Dog," complete with canine noises:
The Elvis Experience with Buddy Love is a curious bit of Elvis-iana from Spain. Apparently it's yet another E impersonator, but one that raises a number of questions: why does he go by the name Buddy Love, the name of a Jerry Lewis film character? What's with that picture (taken from his MySpace page)? Is he doing a Buddy Holly impression on "True Love Ways"? And why does he start this CD-R (presumably sold at shows) with four obscurities, then a Peggy Lee cover, instead of Elvis classics? Maybe those songs where big in Spain. "Edge Of Reality" is totally great, tho, it shouldn't be obscure - this late-period b-side from a forgettable film had me seeking out the original (see vid below). Would go well on a psychotic-themed playlist with Porter Wagoner's "Rubber Room" and The Cramps "Can't Find My Mind."
Buddy's accent and not-entirely-complete grasp of English does come thru on the slower numbers like "Fever," where he sings lines like: "fever started out ago." And on "Viva Las Vegas" is he singing "Fever Las Vegas?" Weird how he doesn't do many of the famous songs - I had to use an internet lyrics search to find what some of these songs were called, and I thought I had a fairly good grasp of The King's career. Guess I don't know as much about him as I thought...and I've even been to Sun Studios, Graceland and his childhood house in Tupelo. The Elvis Experience with Buddy Love
01 Pocketful of Rainbows 02 It Hurts Me 03 Young and Beautiful 04 Edge Of Reality 05 Fever 06 Flaming Star 07 Are You Lonesome Tonight 08 Memories 09 Forever My Darling 10 She's Not You 11 Rubberneckin' 12 True Love Ways 13 Separate Ways 14 Viva Las Vegas 15 My Boy
And if anyone wants to buy me a Christmas present, holy crap, check THIS out - it's the female Eilert Pilarm!
Like I said: "During the upheaval of the late '70s/early '80s punk days, there was a real changing-of-the-guard feeling that led many groups of the time to cover classic oldies from the sacred rock 'n' roll canon in an irreverent (if not downright disrespectful) fashion." Part 1 and Part 2 of this series have been two of my most-downloaded collections, so here's a third batch - with suggestions from some of you - of wild 'n' wooly '70s/'80s devolved covers ranging from hardcore slammers to New Wave synth nerdiness to art-damaged tune destructions. You'll probably recognize a few famous things here, but there's plenty of obscure-but-great ripped-from-vinyl rarities as well. Weirdly enough, there are not one, but two electric violin-based tracks here: Walter Steding, and Nash The Slash. And, seriously, when was the last time you listened to the Plasmatics?
1. Dead Kennedys "Viva Las Vegas" 2. Walter Steding "Hound Dog" [Robert Fripp on guitar] 3. John Cale "Heartbreak Hotel" [live, with possibly Brian Eno, Kevin Ayers, Mike Oldfield) 4. Judy Nylon "Jailhouse Rock"
5. Frank Sumatra And The Mob "Telstar" 6. The Plasmatics w/Lemmy "Stand By Your Man" 7. Nurse With Wound "Antacid Cocamotive 93 ["The Locomotion"]" 8. Brian Sands "Baby You're A Rich Man" 9. Dictators "I Got You Babe" 10. Hüsker Dü "Love Is All Around ["Mary Tyler Moore Show" theme]" 11. Talking Heads "Love Is All Around" (live) [The Troggs] 12. Pure Hell "These Boots Are Made For Walking" 13. Ronny "If You Want Me To Stay" 14. The Plugz "La Bamba" 15. Brian Eno "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" 16. Nash the Slash "Dopes on the Water" ["Smoke On The Water"] 17. Implog "On B'way" 18. Hüsker Dü "Eight Miles High" 19. Plasmatics "Dream Lover" 20. The Stranglers "Walk On By" Thanks to those of you who suggested some of these.
"It's a postcard!" "No, it's not. It's a record! Lemme play it" "No, it's a postcard! I wanna mail it!" (removing pipe:) "Hold on kids, you're both right - these 6 postcards we bought at the World's Fair can also be enjoyed on any record-player." "Gee, dad, that's swell!" (Dad goes back to his pipe, nodding and smiling) Despite the ridiculous amount of music I have, I'm not really a "collector." I'm more like a bottom-feeder, buying the stuff no-one else wants. But, while visiting Seattle some years back, I really did have to pry open my wallet and shell out $50 or so for these lovely postcard/records. It was so worth it - all six were in mint condition, never played, and they look and sound great. The artists were probably Seattle locals. I found some info on The Frantics and Frank Sugia, but as for the others, they apparently never made the national scene, or even other recordings.
This fascinating article describes some of the literally hundreds of songs written about the Space Age extravaganza known as the "Century 21" World's Fair of 1962, but I couldn't find many. Only two, to be exact, included here as bonus tracks, courtesy of the "I'm Learning To Share" and "Beware of the Blog" blogs. I've also added a song from the soundtrack to an Elvis film shot on location at the fair. (Of course, strange music fans know and love Attilio Mineo's "Man In Space With Sounds" LP, but many other blogs have already posted it.) So this is all I got so far, but it is, to quote Joe Juma, "an acme of delight."
01 "Invitation To The Fair" - Joe Juma (a country stomper) 02 "World's Fair Seattle" - Billy Earles (Man, dig this finger-snappin' lounge crooner) 03 "Summer of '62 - Ronnie Draper and the Fordomatics(frantic banjo-driven hoedown with those white-bread folk-revival vocal harmonies) 04 "Cafe in The Sky" - Kelly Gates (Space-Age organ sounds? Now we're talkin'!) 05 "Gayway Twist" - the Frantics(this rock'n'roller is an instrumental, which, considering the title, is perhaps just as well) 06 "Come and See Seattle" - Frank Sugia Trio & Naomi (an accordion waltz for the Lawrence Welk crowd - Sugia seems to have had a fairly successful musical career, releasing an album in 1967)
bonus tracks: Elvis Presley - "Take Me To The Fair" Joy and the Boys - "Meet Me In Seattle" The Lancers - "See You In Seattle"
"Dolores Fuller, the onetime actress-girlfriend of cross-dressing schlock movie director Ed Wood who co-starred with Wood in his low-budget 1950s cult classic "Glen or Glenda," has died. She was 88.
Fuller, whose show business career included writing the lyrics to a dozen Elvis Presley movie songs, died Monday at her home in Las Vegas after a long illness," sez the LA Times.
Co-author of some of The King's greatest tunes, like "Rock-A-Hula Baby," and "Do The Clam," memorably covered by The Cramps. Too bad she didn't stay with Wood, at least professionally. What a power couple they would have been - his movies, her songs...
