A continuation of yesterday’s post about an old mixtape that I wrote about for Pitchfork at the dawn of time (2003). Read more about it all here. And then let the audio torture commence.
>>Side B
(Again.)William Shatner: "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"
The torture never stops? This must be what marijuana humor inevitably leads to. I cut this off right after the gut-wrenching reading of "The Girl! With Kaleidoscope Eyyyyyyes."X-Ray Spex: "The Day the World Turned Day-Glo"
A great punk riff that more than holds up as the sax blows. I thought it was Lora Logic, my bad. I still don't know what the hell she's hissing here, but Poly Styrene is as doe-eyed and vitriolic an amalgam as ever graced such a world. I didn't know this was such an influential band at the time I made the tape, I must have heard their name mentioned somewhere.Nat 'King' Cole: "Tell Me All About Yourself"
Only in the last few months have I learned to appreciate the pre-croon aspect of Cole and his sophisticated West Coast blues trio with early jazz guitarist great Oscar Moore. He had a nice laid-back style of playing (go figure). I guess I could've paid more attention to the copious butter lines in here, the money one being: "You fascinate me, talk and elate me, tell me all about yourself." To think, I spent years looking for the perfect pick-up line, and here it was all along.Mississippi John Hurt: "Moaning the Blues"
Off one of his revival records from the 60s. It was the intricate gentleness of both his fingerpicking and aged voice that struck me first. Knowing about the man also helped me appreciate Takoma founder John Fahey when first hearing his "Requiem for Mississippi John Hurt" years later.The Hickoids: "Animal Husbandry"
Slop-fueled idiocy that thumps apart as it tries to speed into the second half of the song. Call it cowpunk or poke-rock, but the snarl and greasy pedal-steel thrash sure is a sloppy mess. We used to see the legendary Dick Hayes around at Tacoland with his latter group, the Country Giants. There were few punk icons in SA beyond the Butthole Surfers, and acknowledging the Hickoids was part of coming to terms with that.
Bonnie Raitt: "Write Me a Few of Your Lines / Kokomo"
Her MOR rebirth in the eighties was enriching (for her) but unlistenable (for me or anyone else at Pitchfork). I know she learned bottleneck from Mississippi Fred McDowell himself, and blends two of his standards here beautifully, but does she play the steel on the record? Might be Ry Cooder or Lowell George instead.Professor Longhair: "No Buts and No Maybes"
We thought all of this stuff was punk, in that it was very individualistic, and went against the grain –Alternative Tentacles, Dischord, etc.– of our alternative high school peers. That's what punk was about, wasn't it, pissing people off? Professor was in his seventies, I think, and he was still partying and having a good time. Dr. John calls him the Godfather of Funk, as he was doing this stuff back in the 1940s. I'm surprised how joyous his voice and every single note of the piano is to me now. Man, I wish he would've put out a health book or something...his version of "Rum & Coke" will have to do instead.Fugazi: "In Defense of Humans"
From some comp or other. In high school, I had to mow the lawn, like most kids. Unlike most kids though, the lawn was over an acre wide, and took four hours on a push mower. Usually I had Repeater in the Walkman, which meant I could listen to it eight or nine times through, giving me the fuel needed to keep pushing. A Fugazi song I hadn't heard? Had to have it.The Flaming Lips: "Jesus Shooting Heroin"
Jeez, Wayne sounds exactly like Lennon. Religion was always a topic for Coyne and Co., as were drugs. Now it sounds like inept Blue Cheer to me, the same way their new albums remind me of Burt Bacharach. Years later, I realized they copped a line out of the Stones' "Heartbreaker"; it's bizarre to think they're still around today, and much bigger than I would ever have thought possible.The Chiffons: "One Fine Day"
Oldies radio has a way of dulling the senses, as classic gems are crammed down your throat over and over again. Pull it out of context though, and it's easier to catch the splendor and multi-faceted structures of these songs. Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman" is a good example of this, as is just about anything by the Chiffons. How I remember it's The Chiffons and not The Ronettes is beyond me, but it sure makes me happy. Free Phil Spector!
Snakefinger: "Yeti"
While I grew to like the Residents, I've tried for years to get into this song and never could. Still can't. The weird, slow voices are cool, and the guitar sounds good enough, but it goes on for way too long. It's a pretty stupid song overall.Bukka White: "1936 Jitterbug Blues"
Not from his pre-prison recordings, so it's got to be after his rediscovery. I don't know where it came from though, and lord knows I've tried. Menacing with his growl, threatening himself with the injection, "Play it good, Bukka," he really sets the steel howling and glistening under his hambone hands.The Pretenders: "Tattoo Love Boys"
This shit rocks, and I always promise myself I'll pick up the first two Pretenders albums next time I see 'em for a dollar. The guitar sounds so clean, rippling like streams over the rattling Chuck Berry chug. "You showed me what that hole was for," Chryssie Hynde sneers right before the tight, wiggling break. I can almost smell the smoke coming off her leather.The Chocolate Watchband: "Sitting There Standing"
Raw, smoking. I don't know if I've ever seen this song on any of their CDs, because I would've snatched it up. Way before I got into Nuggets-type stuff (they're on Nuggets, right?); I didn't even realize it had a blues structure until writing this.James 'Blood' Ulmer: "High Time"
Maybe my years of Living Colour led me to this, but it wasn't the Ornette Coleman harmelodics connection at all. Lord knows what I thought of this at the time, but weird was the order of the day, so wired and jittery worked as well. "High Time" might've helped make "On the Corner" palpable to my ears in upcoming months, along with all the Nigerian funk stuff years later; it sure is writhing all over the place here though, escaping my sensibilities even now.Dan Hicks and his Hot Licks: "Dizzy Dogs"
Another Texas Swing sorta thing, with an overload of kazoo wailing throughout. I'm surprised I would repeat myself with two tracks by the same artist. Oh, I only had a minute or so left of tape. That's why.Interlude: “The Ballad of Evel Knievel” More TV snippets interspersed with some Evel Knievel sort of theme song. He's jumping a haystack on the cover, and the songs are top-notch: "He can move a mountain, leap across a winding river/ Once he's made his mind up, there ain't nothing he won't tryyyyy/ There's something deep inside him, lusting for the thrills that drive him/ Yet he knows one day, he's going to have to face that canyon in the sky."
Kids, stay away from drugs.
For subscribers, I am including a dedicated Spotify playlist of The Lost Mixtape #4, along with a second mixtape that was also dawn from Marshall’s record collection. It is maybe more listenable?
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