Mcgough & Mcgear - The Scaffold (1968)

McGough & McGear's sole album is a witty delight, notable for both its occasional cool tuneful pop-psychedelic rock songs and more frequent blends of music and whimsical Liverpudlian comedy/poetry. Of the song-oriented tracks, "So Much in Love" is groovy circa 1967-68 British harmony pop/rock with touches of heavy rock psychedelia, while the satirical "Ex-Art Student" (with Jimi Hendrix on guitar) combines sunny pop verses with an extended freaky psychedelic break. "Basement Flat," by contrast, is a funny take on a British pub-style sing-along, while McGough's poem "Summer with Monika" bears similarity to outings by the Bonzo Dog Band and Monty Python. The spoken bits are nicely embellished by eclectic folky and jazzy musical backups and background sound effects, and the sad piano ballad "Yellow Book" is indicative of their debts to British theatrical music traditions.

McGough and McGear - McGough and McGear (1968)
McGough & McGear was a spin-off of the Scaffold, the British comedy/pop trio famous for including Mike McGear, Paul McCartney's brother. The Scaffold also included poet Roger McGough and John Gorman. Minus Gorman, the duo of McGough & McGear released a self-titled album in 1968.

Far from being just a Beatles-related curiosity, McGough & McGear is a fine (and rare) album deftly combining poetry, comedy, and a good amount of solid pop-psychedelic rock. McGear tended to be more prominent on the straighter rock songs, while McGough had a greater role on the pieces dominated by goofy, yet intellectually sharp, poetry. It's heartily recommended to fans of the more famous Bonzo Dog Band, who had a similarly appealing blend of comedy and rock, though McGough & McGear has a more poetic, spoken word bent. On tracks like "So Much in Love" and "Ex-Art Student," however, the act presented accomplished, sunny British pop-psych that could be enjoyed as relatively pure, tuneful rock songs.

The record also boasted a roster of all-star guests, including, unsurprisingly, Paul McCartney; McCartney's then-girlfriend, actress Jane Asher; Jimi Hendrix, who adds cool psychedelic guitar to "Ex-Art Student"; the other members of the Jimi Hendrix Experience; John Mayall; Zoot Money; Graham Nash; Spencer Davis; ex-Pretty Things drummer Viv Prince; ex-Yardbirds bassist Paul Samwell-Smith; Dave Mason; Gary Leeds of the Walker Brothers; and yet more names that will be known to aficionados of swinging London, like Margaret Asher (Jane Asher's mother) and socialite Prince Stanislaus Klossowiski de Rola. The Beatles' official biographer, Hunter Davies, wrote the liner notes.

The album was largely recorded in the summer of 1967, but not completed and released until the following year. It's been reported that it was intended for issue on the Beatles' new Apple label, but in the end it appeared on Parlophone (the Beatles' standard record company). The album went little noticed, and was only briefly reissued on CD before it went out of print again. ~ All Music Guide
-------------

The Beatles - Beatles - The Ultimate Christmas Album (2 CDs!!)

Beatles---The Ultimate Christmas Album (2 CDs!!)
Beatles---The Ultimate Christmas Album

This is really an incredible line-up and covers EVERY Christmas recording by The Beatles together and solo! The Beatles "Christmas Records" from 1963 to 1969 are all 320kbps and are fantastic! They are not taken from the scratchy old 45rpms that were sent out to fan club members back in the 60s. These recordings are taken from the original EMI Mastertapes! Awesome!!!
Check out CD #2 and you will see some of the rarest Beatles material around! Alot of this stuff is not in the trading circles in this kind of quality!
It's the ultimate Christmas by The Beatles!

CD #1
1-Beatles 1963 Christmas Record.
2-Beatles 1964 Christmas Record.
3-Beatles 1965 Christmas Record.
4-Beatles 1966 Christmas Record.
5-Beatles 1967 Christmas Record.
6-Beatles 1968 Christmas Record.
7-Beatles 1969 Christmas Record.

CD #2
1-Christmas Greetings (Astoria Cinema) (12-20-1963).
2-Crimble Medley (Saturday Club) (12-17-1963).
3-Beatles 1964 Christmas Record Outtake #1 (10-29-1964).
4-Beatles 1964 Christmas Record Outtake #2 (10-29-1964).
5-Beatles 1964 Christmas Record Outtake #3 (10-29-1964).
6-Beatles 1964 Christmas Record Outtake #4 (10-29-1964).
7-Beatles 1964 Christmas Record Outtake #5 (10-29-1964).
8-Beatles Interview (Hammersmith Odeon) (12-21-1964).
9-White Christmas (Studio 50) (New York) (2-9-1964).
10-Beatles 1965 Christmas Record Outtake #1 (10-19-1965).
11-Beatles 1965 Christmas Record Outtake #2 (10-19-1965).
12-Beatles Radio London & Radio Caroline Messages (12-6-1966).
13-Christmastime Is Here Again (EMI Mastertape) (11-28-1967).
14-Jock & Yono (John & Yoko) (Kenwood) (November 1968).
15-Onceuponapooltable (John & Yoko) (Kenwood) (November 1968).
16-Happy Christmas (Pauls COMPLETE 1968 song!).
17-John & Yoko Christmas Sketch (Tittenhurst Park) (November 1969).
18-Ringo's "Wireless For The Blind Fund Message" (12-15-1969).
19-Happy X-Mas (John's Home Demo).
20-John & Yoko 1970 Christmas Message #1 (Tittenhurst Park).
21-John & Yoko 1970 Christmas Message #2 (Tittenhurst Park).
22-Happy X-Mas (Rough Mix for Acetate).

These are essential for any Beatles fan!

Tiny Tim - Songs of an Impotent Troubador (1995)

Tiny Tim Gets Real!
A different side of Tiny Tim, really. It's just Tiny Tim, XXXX beer in hand, telling stories of his youth and of his travels. From his crushes to his eccentric behavior, it's all heart-felt, humorous and insightful. Don't fret, though. There's still plenty of ukulele playing and his charmingly high falsetto, though it isn't anything that it used to be (This is 35 years later, remember).

A must listen for Tiny fans, but newcomers would be better off checking out his debut, posted elsewhere on this blog...

01. Welcome To Tiny Tim's World
02. The Ice Skaters Song - 1994
03. Poem For Elizabeth Taylor - 1947
04. You're The Only One - Song For Elizabeth Taylor
05. Tiny Tim's Search For The Magic Princess
06. The Destruction Of The Captain America Collection
07. Tiny Tim's Quest For Elizabeth Taylor
08. When I'm Feeling Sad - 1948
09. Jane - 1948
10. Our Little Secret - 1958
11. Stephanie - 1958
12. Pretty Baby - 1958
13. Don't Call Me Anymore - 1958
14. Whispering Voices - 1958
15. Heaven Only Knows - 1958
16. Dear Tuesday - 1960
17. Tiny Tim At The Café Bizarre
18. Hello Ellie Halsey - 1963
19. Tiny Tim At Page Three
20. If I Could Ride A Spaceship - 1964
21. Tiny Tim Records His 78 Classics
22. Spoiled - 1964
23. Just Another Girl Called Judy - 1964
24. Tiny Tim Receives "Siddhartha" From Miss Bluebell
25. The Tragedy Of Romance
26. Introducing Miss Dixie!
27. Forever Miss Dixie - 1982
28. Tiny Tim Meets The Eternal Princess
29. Jessica Hahn I - 1989
30. I Used To Love Jessica Hahn, But Now I Love Stephanie Bohn - 1990
31. Jessica Hahn II - 1989
32. Santa Claus Has Got The Aids This Year - 1980
33. She Left Me With The Herpes - 1980
34. The Ballad Of An Impotent Troubadour - 1995 - Tiny Tim
35. Just What Do You Mean By 'Antichrist'? - Tiny Tim with Current 93 and Nurse With Wound

Hawaii Five-O (1970.)

A soundtrack album featuring Morton Stevens' theme and incidental music was issued by Capitol Records in 1970. One of the instrumental pieces on the album, "Call to Danger", was excerpted as background music accompanying a "Special Presentation" logo that CBS used to introduce its prime time television specials throughout the 1970s and 1980s. The album was reissued on compact disc by Film Score Monthly in 2010.

SIDE ONE

Hawaii Five-O (the complete studio version of the theme)
Call to Danger (Interestingly, portions of this theme were used as the theme jingle for CBS Special Presentation spots back in the 70's and 80's).
McGarrett's Theme
Front Street
The Long Wait
Blues Trip

SIDE TWO

The Floater
Interlude
Operation Smash
Beach Trip
Up Tight
The Chase/Hawaii Five-O (the Five-O theme here is the same as the TV version (the first few bars)

The information in the back cover of the album:

HAWAII FIVE-O

Music from the TV Soundtrack
A CBS Television Series starring Jack Lord
Composed, Arranged and Conducted by Morton Stevens
(Capitol/EMI ST-410 Stereo)
All selections published by April Music (ASCAP)
Produced by Mel Taylor for Melee Productions

Back cover blurb (by Leonard Freeman):

"Before taking a tough new assignment, Morton Stevens (Director of Music, CBS West Coast), graduate of Juilliard School of Music, arranger and conductor for Sammy Davis, Jr. in those halcyon years between 1950 and 1960, composer of literally hundreds of segments of television's finest dramatic shows, and in my opinion, a stone cold genius, made a pilgrimage to Hawaii.

"In our seven-island FIVE-O state, Mort discovered for himself what I had already found: the last Eden, palm trees and skyscrapers, aloha spirit and snarling traffic jams, America;s heartbeat in the Pacific, mecca for more than two million tourists annually, and home for the polygenetic golden people of Hawaii, a vital, hip, swinging place, Polynesia now!

"That's what I asked Morton Stevens to put into music. The value of a great one-minute theme to any television series is inestimable and I wanted one for my then brand spanking new HAWAII FIVE-O. No ukeleles or steel guitars or falsetto singers or overused bongos, but a kind of melding of the Polynesian, the classic, the jazz and most of all the pop sound of today. HAWAII FIVE-O is all of these things and so, happily, is Morton Stevens' music, as you will discover. Aloha!"

The Green Hornet - Billy May (Original T.V. Score, 1966)

01. Green Hornet
02. Four Hornets
03. Casy
04. Horneted House
05. Kato
06. Do The Hornet
07. Black Beauty
08. Guadarahornet
09. Activate The Scanner
10. The Green Hornet
11. Main Title

ABC commissioned this TV series which starred Van Williams as the hero and of course, the legendary Bruce Lee as his sidekick. Based on the classic 1930’s radio series about a newspaper owner Britt Reid. Billy May, celebrated composer and arranger referenced his theme music around Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakoff’s classic 'The Flight Of The Bumble Bee' although there’s plenty of original scoring too. Special limited edition is remastered and the outstanding accompanying booklet is simply stunning packed with masses of authoritative and little-known information and rare photographs! Also, that's Al Hirt playing trumpet on the theme song...

HEATWAVE INDUCED LACK OF POSTING SAID TO NOT FLY SO WELL WITH THOSE THAT DON'T GIVE A FLYING FUCK!

including me, but heatwave's over and it's the time of the season to start giving A FLYING FUCK again...so...

Lux & Ivys Favorites - Volumes 4, 5 & 6

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Lux and Ivy's Favorites!!!

Ok, I got kind of sick of repeating this story 1000 times. So figured I'd include this in the latest volume. I'm the guy who compiles the Lux and Ivy's Favorites Compilations.

It started as a way to keep track of some of the songs Lux, and or Ivy, mentioned in THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE MUSIC BOOK. It was never really intended as anything but a way for a friend of mine and me to have 2 really kick ass compilations.

So we went about the arduous process

of finding all the songs mentioned in that interview. It took a loooong time. We used the file sharing program, Napster, as well as our own personal collections. So, one thing lead to another and when word got around that these compilations were out there, they started being traded from fan to fan to fan. So, at some point I decided to put them up on Napster and let anyone who wanted them have them. As the years went buy, more interviews with Lux and Ivy kept popping up, and the list of songs they mentioned got longer and longer. This resulted in new volumes...~WMFU

i was too lazy to compile a tracklist, but suffice it to say, if you were interested in the first 3 volumes then you'll want these ones, too. and the next 7, as well!

Lux and Ivys Favorites - Volume 03

01- pretty things - Come See Me
02 - On the Go - The Leather Boy
03 - Roy Brown - Butcher Pete - Part 1
04 - Roy Brown - Butcher Pete Part 2
05 - The Carnations - Scorpion
06 - Uh Oh - The Imps
07 - Doctor Ross - The Boogie Disease
08 - howlin' wolf - smokestack lightnin'
09 - Polka Dot Slim - A Thing You Gotta Face
10 - ventures - the rat
11 - Mohammed Rafi aka ted lyons and his cubs - Jaan Pehechaan Ho
12 - Bo Diddley - 05 - Congo
13 - Anton LaVey - 01 - Satan Takes a Holiday (instrumental)
14 - the symbols - Do the Zombie
15 - Stampede - The Scarlets
16 - Danny Dell & The Trends - Froggy
17 - Johnny Kidd & The Pirates - Shakin' All Over
18 - Kinks - You Really Got Me
19 - The Strangers - Caterpillar Crawl
20 - Rubber Room - Porter Waggoner
21 - robert mitchum - ballad of thunder road [ ]
22 - Duane Eddy - Ramrod
23 - Dick Penner - Cindy Lou
24 - Ideals - Go Go Gorilla
25 - Jack Nitzsche - The Lonely Surfer
26 - Johnny Burnette Trio - Rockbilly Boogie - 13 - honey hush
27 - Mickey & Sylvia - No Good Lover
29 - Bo Diddley - 02 - I'm A Man
30 - johnny fortune - Dragster
31 - the gee cees - Buzzsaw Twist

Lux and Ivys Favorites - Volume 02

01 - 13th floor elevators - you're gonna miss me
02 - ric cartey - young love
03 - slim harpo - strange love
04 - the champs - train to nowhere
05 - cozy cole - topsy part one and two
06 - zacherle - dinner with dracula
07 - randey alvey - green fuzz
08 - jackie morningstar - rockin in the graveyard
09 - john buck and his blazers - forbidden city
10 - marvin rainwater - hot and cold
11 - blues rockers - calling all cows
12 - five blobs - the blob
13 - ric cartey - oo eee
14 - june wilkinson and mamie van doren - bikini with no top on top
15 - wayne williams - red hot mama
16 - bosstones - mope-itty moope
17 - kieth corvale - trapped love
18 - storey sisters - bad motorcycle
19 - lightnin slim - its mighty crazy
20 - mcfadden and dor - noisy village
21 - crescents - pink dominoes
22 - markettes - out of limits
23 - chimes - zindy lou
24 - crystals - the screw
25 - invectas - the hump
26 - earl hagen and the new interns - new interns watusi
27 - billy ward and the dominoes - jennie lee

Lux and Ivys Favorites - Volume 01

01 - sheriff and the revels - shombolar
02 - sid king and the five strings - let er rip
03 - ersal hickey - bluebirds over the mountain
04 - ersal hickey - hangin around
05 - ronnie dawson - action packed
06 - ronnie self - date bait
07 - vern pullens - bop crazy baby
08 - donald woods and the belairs - death of an angel
09 - gene maltais - crazy baby
10 - billy ward and his dominoes - the bells
11 - bob mcfadden - the mummy
12 - forbidden five - rfd rangoon
13 - forbidden five - enchanted farm
14 - medallions - behind the door
15 - nervous norvous - transfusion
16 - clovers - crawlin
17 - pengiuns - earth angel
18 - blenders - don't fuck around with love
19 - sparkle moore - skull and crossbones
20 - versatones - bila
21 - versatones - tight skirt tight sweater
22 - tornnados - telstar
23 - treniers - poon tang
24 - clovers - rotten cocksuckers ball
25 - collins kids - whistle bait
26 - the chips - rubber biscuits
27 - jan and arnie - jennie lee

American Graffiti Revisited

a weird, cool, fun tribute to "American Graffitti"

CD1;
01 Moto Litas - Rock around the clock. 2:18
02 Richie Venus - Sixteen candles. 3:20
03 Susan & the Surftones - Runaway. 2:33
04 Voodoo Court - Why do fools fall in love. 1:34
05 Rogers Sisters - That'll be the day. 2:06
06 B.C. & the 5-Speeds - Fanny mae. 2:28
07 Capacitors - At the hop. 2:34
08 Bully - She’s so fine. 3:32
09 Buzzards - The stroll. 3:16
10 Kahuna Kawentzmann - See you in september. 3:01
11 Waistcoats - Surfin’ safari. 1:58
12 Cosmonauti - He’s the great imposter. 2:01
13 Creatures of the Golden Dawn - Almost grown. 2:21
14 Surfones - Smoke gets in your eyes. 3:24
15 Daikaiju - Little darlin’. 2:06
16 Sit ’n Spin - Peppermint twist. 2:02
17 Aqualads - Barbara Ann. 2:15
18 Fabulous Planktones - Book of love. 2:58
19 Bikini Men - Maybe baby. 1:48
20 Strangemen - Ya ya. 2:40
21 Big Fat Combo - The great pretender. 3:28

CD2;
01 Dipsomaniacs - Ain’t that a shame. 1:34
02 Noseriders & Greg - Johnny b. goode. 5:57
03 Big Ray & the Futuras - I only have eyes for you. 4:20
04 Wrong Corpses - Get a job. 2:59
05 Bluejays - To the aisle. 2:51
06 Petty Booka - Do you wanna dance. 3:02
07 X-Impossibles - Party doll. 2:07
08 Bradipos IV - Come go with me. 2:41
09 Squid Vicious - You’re 16, you’re beautiful. 1:33
10 Hifi Ramblers - Love potion no. 9. 2:23
11 Deoras - Since I don’t have you. 2:44
12 Atlantics - Chantilly lace. 2:27
13 Jem Crossland & Hypertonics - Teen angel. 1:41
14 Mel Previte & the Gangsters of L - Crying in the chapel. 2:43
15 Paul Johnson - A thousand miles away. 2:14
16 Mookie Brill - Heart and soul. 2:46
17 Fifty Foot Combo - Green onions. 4:31
18 Urban Surf Kings - Only you. 2:32
19 Candyeyeslugger - Goodnight sweetheart. 2:49
20 Drifting Sand - All summer long. 3:51

Some information from internet; This is a very fun compilation/concept album, with many fine tracks proving that doo-wop is a rich field to be mined for surf. 41 bands from all over the planet to cover all those songs that made that era a dream, A great, outta control 2 CD tribute to the soundtrack of American Graffiti [1973], featuring some of the best surf n' garage bands in the world!

Wolfman Jack - Wolfman Jack 1972

Wolfman Jack was a gravelly-voiced, American disc jockey who became world famous in the 1960s and 1970s, and whose real name was Robert Weston Smith (January 21, 1938 – July 1, 1995).

Wolfman Jack released two albums on the Wooden Nickel label: Wolfman Jack (1972) and Through the Ages (1973). His 1972 single "I Ain't Never Seen a White Man" hit #106 on the Billboard Singles Charts. In 1973 he appeared in director George Lucas' second feature film, American Graffiti, as himself. His broadcasts tie the film together, and a main character catches a glimpse of the mysterious Wolfman in a pivotal scene. In gratitude for Wolfman Jack's participation, Lucas gave him a fraction of a "point"—the division of the profits from a film—and the extreme financial success of American Graffiti provided him with a regular income for life. He also appeared in the film's 1979 sequel More American Graffiti.

01 Sweet Caroline
02 here's An Old Man In Our Town
03 Diggin' On Mrs Jones
04 Spinning Ball
05 Hey Wolfman
06 I Ain't Never Seen A White Man
07 Gallop
08 Hoodooin' Of Miss Fanny De Berry

National Lampoon - Gold Turkey (1975)

This is a classic comedy release from 1975 featuring the best of their comedy radio show. Featured performers (get ready for this list): Christopher Guest, Bill Murray, John Belushi, Brian Doyle--Murray, Chevy Chase, Harold Ramis, Gilda Radner,> This release includes comedy sketches by various members and musical comedy by Christopher Guest (Spinal Tap, Film Director).

National Lampoon - Gold Turkey (1975)

01. Front Row Center
02. Public Disservice
03. Mother Goose's Wine
04. My Husband
05. Megaphone Newsreel
06. The Trial
07. Jimmy Dugan Story
08. Well-Intentioned Blues
09. A Laugh From The Past
10. Stand Up
11. Hockey
12. Prison Farm
13. Mr. Veal Chop
14. The Immigrants

Bill Cosby - Talks To Kids About Drugs (1971)

Bill Cosby - Talks To Kids About Drugs (1971)

01. Introduction - Downers And Uppers
02. Questions and Answers
03. Dope Pusher
04. Bill Talks About Hard Drugs
05. I Found a Way Out
06. Order In The Classroom
07. People Make Mistakes
08. I Know I Can Handle It
09. Bill Talks About Pushers
10. Captain Junkie
11. Bill and the Kids Sing / Closing


what's up with BILL?...he seems to be cluing these kids in on shit more than anything else on this record...
he was friends with Miles Davis and Quincy Jones...he used to be A FUNNY JAZZBRO...apparently, he's really INTO the Jell-O Pudding Pops...
he's kind of a loopy guy who sometimes gets mad at his own people (whoopie sykes)...and i guess he's a scholar of sorts when it comes to DRUGS!
here, good ol' bill fills the kiddies in on the do's and don'ts of being a DRUG ADDICT!...it's really cool to hear ol' bill talkin' about the dope and the heroin and the uppers and the downers and the cocaine and the weed and the grass ...nuthin' 'bout a damn puddin' pop, tho....

The Sons of the Pioneers

The Sons of the Pioneers 1949
From Top: Hugh Farr, Ken "Festus" Curtis, Bob Nolan, Lloyd Perryman, Shug Fisher, Karl Farr.

The Sons of the Pioneers is an American cowboy singing group founded in 1933 by Leonard Slye (better known by his later screen name, Roy Rogers), with Tim Spencer and Bob Nolan. They were joined by Hugh Farr (fiddle/bass vocals) in 1934, Karl Farr (guitar) in 1935, and Lloyd Perryman (vocals) in 1936.

When Rogers began his film career, the group took on Pat Brady (string bass), who brought with him his flair for comedy (Brady later starred as Rogers' sidekick in his popular 1951 television program). The group remained popular into the 1960s. In 2003, the Sons of the Pioneers was among the winners of the Golden Boot Award, along with actors Chris Alcaide, Kelo Henderson, Tommy Lee Jones, and Kris Kristofferson.

Though all of the original members are deceased, the group continues. Group "trail boss," Dale Warren (a member since 1952, replacing Ken Curtis), died in August of 2008, ending a 56-year stint with the group. The group still performs regularly at concerts in Branson, Missouri and other locations, as of 2010, led by current "trail boss" Luther Nallie (who joined 42 years ago). Current members are Luther Nallie, Gary LeMaster, Ken Lattimore, Randy Rudd, Ricky Boen and Mark Abbott.

SONS OF THE PIONEERS 25 Favorite Cowboy Songs (1956)

1. Tumbling Tumbleweeds
2. Press Along To The Big Corral
3. Wind
4. Bunkhouse Bugle Boy
5. Home On The Range
6. La Borachita
7. Timber Trail
8. Happy Cowboy
9. Cowboy Lament
10. Pajarillo Barrenquero
11. So Long To The Red River Valley
12. Come And Get It
13. Cool Water
14. Curly Joe From Idaho
15. Cowboy's Dream
16. Along The Santa Fe Trail
17. The Last Round-up
18. Farr Away Stomp
19. Red River Valley
20. Carry Me Back To The Lone Prairie
21. Sweet Betsy From Pike
22. Slow Moving Cattle
23. Texas Stomp
24. Yellow Rose Of Texas
25. The Everlasting Hills Of Oklahoma

bonus track "THE CASTRATION OF STRAWBERRY ROAN"
by The Sons of the Pioneers

this song is probably NSFW...or gramma or grampa or little kids or anybody else for that reason.
this song is a balls-out rendition of a song called "The Castration Of Strawberry Roan", about some poor goddamn horse...damn, yo....
one of the most coarse horse songs i ever did hear..."Cool Clear, Water" it ain't... you won't find THIS song on any GREATEST HITS compilations...

The Castration of the Strawberry Roan...

I was layin' round town in a house of ill fame,
Laid up with a rough, tough hustlin' dame,
When a hop-headed pimp with his nose full of coke
Beat me outta that woman and left me stone broke.

When up steps a feller and he says, "Say, my lad,
You any damn good ridin' horses that's bad?"
I says, "You damn right! That's one thing I can do.
I'm a second-rate pimp, but a good buckaroo.

"Bring on your bad horses' cause I never saw one
That had me a guessin' or bothered me none."
He said. "Guess again, there's one horse that I own,
You might have heard of him, the Strawberry Roan."

I says, "I guess we've all heard of that ball bearin' stud,
He's got epizootic, the glanders, and crud,
He's the worst fuckin' outlaw that ever been foaled,
He hadn't been rode and he's twenty years old."

cho: Oh! the Strawherry Roan, how many colts has he thrown?
He's got gonorrhea, the cankers, and syph,
He's strictured with clap but his cock is still stiff
Oh! that renegade Strawberry Roan.

The upshot of it was that I found myself hired
To snap out some colts that that breed stud had sired;
They was knot-headed cayuses just like their dad
Most of 'em roan, and all of 'em bad.

From mornin' till night how those bastards did fight,
Till my ass drug my tracks out way before night,
With my balls in my boots and my mouth full of shit,
I's plum tuckered out and all ready to quit.

When up steps the boss and he says, "That's enough,
Them strawberry roan colts is just too damn tough;
I'm plum sick and tired seein' you take them falls,
Rope that man-killin' stud and we'll carve out his balls."

cho: Oh! the Strawberry Roan, we went out to unbend his bone
I built a big loop and went in the corral,
Roped his front feet, and he farted and fell,
And we flattened ol' Strawberry Roan.

The boss held his head, and I hog tied his legs,
Got out my jackknife and went for his eggs:
When I carved on his bag, he let out a squall,
And squealed like a pig when I whittled one ball.

But all I could locate was one of his nuts,
The other was hidden somewhere in his guts,
So I rolled up my sleeves and all over blood
I fished for the seed in the guts of that stud.

I thought I had found it, I felt something pass,
But it was only a turd on the way to his ass;
Just then I heard one of them blood-curdlin' squalls,
And I looked and the roan had the boss by the balls.

I tromped on his head, but it wasn't no use,
He was just like a bulldog, he wouldn't turn loose;
So I untied his legs, and he got to his feet,
But the boss's voice changed, and I knew we was beat.

cho: Oh! the Strawberry Roan, I advise you to leave him alone
He's a knot-headed cayuse with only one ball,
And the boss he's a eunuch with no balls at all,
Lay off of the Strawberry Roan.

Gunsmoke's Festus (1968)

01 Festus Talks About Gunsmoke's Dodge City Dodge City
02 Festus Tells About His Grandpa
03 Hawg Haagen
04 Festus Talks About Girls
05 GOLLY BILL
06 Festus Talks About Teenage Music and Dances
07 CORN BREAD AND BUTTERMILK
08 Festus Tells About His Home Town
09 MY HOME TOWN
10 Festus Writes To His Girl
11 PHOOEY ON YOU LITTLE DARLIN'
12 Festus Talks About Mules
13 YOU'RE NOTHIN' BUT A "IT"
14 Festus Tells About His Trip To Las Vegas LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

Ken Curtis (July 2, 1916–April 28, 1991) was an American singer and actor best known for his role as Festus Haggen on the long-running CBS-TV Western drama, Gunsmoke.

Most people who grew up with Festus' distinctive high pitched twang ringing in their ears (and I can just hear it now), have no idea that Ken Curtis had one of the finest voices ever to grace vinyl and the silver screen.

Ken began his career in Hollywood as a NBC radio staff singer, then went on to become a big band vocalist. His next step up was to singing cowboy in a series of films for Columbia.

The films themselves are amazingly silly, largely because of the contemporary post-war western "laugh-happy action musical" scripts and the "novelty" band the Hoosier Hot Shots, who add their "special" brand of music and comedy to all Ken's singing cowboy films. Nonetheless, Ken's singing contributions to the films are sublime and he also wrote the title song for Lone Star Moonlight. Bend an ear to these tunes (and forgive the sound quality, the films weren't in great condition)

Festus Haggen, bless his heart, did not put an end to Ken Curtis' singing career. In fact, he loved to sing his ownself (made up songs, in particular) and did so on some rare but welcome occasions in his early Gunsmoke days. In the episode "Once a Haggen" (1964) Festus sings quite a bit including Six Shiney Black Horses, composed by Ken Curtis.
Ken Curtis made two albums during his Gunsmoke run: Festus Sings 'n Talks 'Bout Dodge City 'n Stuff and Gunsmoke's Festus Haggen Calls Out Ken Curtis. He performed a few of the songs in his earlier Gunsmoke episodes, including “The Ballad of Hawg Haggen” and “Cornbread and Buttermilk.” Ken wrote most of the monologues and songs on the first album...

National Lampoon Radio Dinner (1972)

National Lampoon
Radio Dinner(1972)

SIDE ONE

Deteriorata, Performed by Norman Rose; back-up vocals by Melissa Manchester; bass: John "Cooker" LoPresti; drums: Jim Payne; keyboard: Milissa Manchester; guitar: Christopher Guest; music composed and arranged by Christopher Guest; lyrics by Tony Hendra

A parody of "Desiderata," the then-popular dorm poster which was turned a minor hit record by Les Crane. This piece also appeared in the magazine (though I can't seem to find it!) and was also sold as a poster.

Phono Phunnies, Performed by Christopher Guest and Michael O'Donoghue

Teenyrap, Performed by Christopher Guest and Naomi R. Page

It's Obvious, Performed by Melissa Manchester, Christopher Guest, and Tony Hendra

Catch It and You Keep It, Performed by Jackson Beck, Christpher Guest, Jack Marks, Jill André, Windy Craig, and others; from an idea by Benjie Aerenson

TV game show parody where audience members try to catch valuable prizes (including electric knives, dinette sets, even a house) thrown down from the top of the CBS building

'Quinas 'n' 'Rasmus, Performed by M.R.D. [initials only--no other info available]

All Kidding Aside (PSA), Performed by Christopher Guest

Phono Phunnies, Performed by Christopher Guest

Teenyrap, Performed by Christopher Guest and Naomi R. Page

Magical Misery Tour (Bootleg Record), Performed by Tony Hendra (as John Lennon), Melissa Manchester (as Yoko Ono); piano: Melissa Manchester; drums: Jim Payne; bass: John "Cooker" LoPresti; composed by Christopher Cerf; arranged by Christopher Guest
John Lennon's own words are turned against him, making him out as an ungrateful prima donna, in this spooky parody

SIDE THIRTEEN

Those Fabulous Sixties, Performed by Christopher Guest (as Bob Dylan)
Parody of a K-Tel-type television ad in which Bob Dylan hawks a collection of protest songs

Profiles in Chrome, Performed by Jackson Beck, Christopher Guest, Jill André, Jack Marks, Norman Rose, Alex Bennett, Michael O'Donoghue, Tony Hendra, and Windy Craig (as Richard Nixon)

When the Democrats nominate a Pontiac GTO for the '72 Presidential election, Nixon counters by transforming himself into a car. The piece ends with America The Beautiful played on car horns.

Teenyrap, Performed by Christopher Guest and Naomi R. Page

Phono Phunnies, Performed by Christopher Guest and Tony Hendra

Pigeons, Performed by Michael O'Donoghue

Suport Your Locol Polece (PSA), Performed by "Loren Order" (as Frank Rizzo)

Pull the Tregros, Performed by Diana Reed (as Joan Baez); guitar: Frani Bell; bass: Dean Munson; composed by Tony Hendra; arranged by Christopher Guest

Joan Baez parody in which she encourages blacks to riot in prisons while she cheers them on from a safe distance

Teenyrap, Performed by Christopher Guest and Naomi R. Page

ng Asi , Performed by Christopher Guest

Phono Phunnies, Performed by Christopher Guest and Naomi R. Page

Concert in Bangla Desh, Performed by Tony Hendra and Christopher Guest

George Harrison's Concert for Bangla Desh is given the old switcheroo: an Indian "tragedy team" tells sad jokes before a starving audience in Bangla Desh for the purpose of collecting a bowl of brown rice for George Harrison so he can fast

Clues #1, #2, #3, and #4, Performed by Tony Hendra and Christopher Guest (not listed--scattered throughout the album)

These are short bits not listed anywhere on the album which refer to Paul McCartney and his support for the Irish independence movement. In several of the bits, we hear an Irish tenor in a pub starting to sing "Give Ireland back to the Irish..." cut short by a gun shot.

Album Credits: Sections of Teeny Rap written by Christopher Guest; all other material, including lyrics, written by Michael O'Donoghue and Tony Hendra; sound production by Bob Tischler; inside photograph by Larry Couzens; art direction by Michael Gross; recording engineer: Pat Martin; recording technician: Gus Mossler; sound effects: Bob Tischler; musical director: Christopher Guest; producers: Michael O'Donoghue and Tony Hendra; production assistant: Roberta Kaman; executive producer: Jerry Taylor

Dickie Goodman - Mr. Jaws and Other Fables

Richard Dorian "Dickie" Goodman (April 19, 1934 – November 6, 1989) is considered one of the earliest proponents of sampling in music. He used a series of "break-in" records he created from 1956 to 1986.

In June 1956, Goodman thought, “What if a seemingly normal record was interrupted by a report of flying saucers landing?” His first record, "The Flying Saucer," was co-written with partner Bill Buchanan, featured a four-minute rewriting of Orson Welles’ famous “War of the Worlds" radio show. While Goodman asked questions of pedestrians, scientists, and even the Martian himself, their responses were "snipped" from lyrics of popular songs of the day, such as:

* "The Great Pretender" by The Platters
* "Heartbreak Hotel" by Elvis Presley
* "Earth Angel" by The Penguins
* "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard
* "Maybellene" by Chuck Berry

Although "The Flying Saucer" became a major hit, it also landed Goodman in court for copyright infringement - e.g. the songs he used to create his "break-in" records. The lawsuits were later settled out of court when the judge ruled that Goodman's records were burlesques and parodies, and were original creations in and of themselves.

Goodman later recorded other break-in records, usually based around a political theme, or having his reporter (often as "John Cameron Cameron", a reference to newscaster John Cameron Swayze) alter-ego interviewing Batman or Neil Armstrong. In 1975, Goodman returned to the pop charts with "Mr. Jaws," a break-in record in which he interviewed several characters from the film Jaws. Peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, "Mr. Jaws" became Goodman's biggest-selling hit record. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. in September 1975.

Goodman's singles often had instrumental numbers (in which his actual role is uncertain) as B-sides. These are not found on either his original LPs or his CD compilation albums.

Luniverse, Goodman's own record label released some works by other artists, including songs leased to him by the Del-Vikings, one of the first racially integrated groups in rock music.

Goodman died in North Carolina in 1989 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Goodman is survived by his sons Jed and Jon and daughter Janie.

His son, Jon Goodman, supervised the issue of Greatest Fables, the first authorised CD collection of Dickie Goodman's recordings in 1998. The album included Jon's tribute, "Return Of The Flying Saucer". Jon also authored a biography of sorts about his dad, entitled The King of Novelty in 2000 published by Xlibris Corporation. In 2008, Jon Goodman updated his father's "Energy Crisis '74" which he posted in the Dickie Goodman MySpace page.

In 2006, his estate produced and authorized two albums: All Time Novelty Hits and Dickie Goodman's Greatest Hits.

01 Mr. Jaws
02 Energy Crisis
03 Superfly Meets Shaft
04 The Touchables
05 The Touchables in Brooklyn
06 Flying Saucer Part 1
07 Flying Saucer Part 2
08 Santa and the Satellite Part 1
09 Santa and the Satellite Part 2
10 Flying Saucer the Second

Neil's Heavy Concept Album (1984)

Neil's Heavy Concept Album is a 1984 recording of songs and spoken comedy routines by British actor Nigel Planer, in character as the long-suffering hippie Neil from the BBC comedy series The Young Ones. Production, arrangements and keyboards are by famed Canterbury keyboardist Dave Stewart, who also debuts on guitar, bass and drums.

The album followed the success of the Neil single "Hole in My Shoe" — a cover version of Traffic's 1967 hit — which reached number 2 in the United Kingdom.

The album starts with a spoken apology in which Neil apologizes for the album's quality. Additional spoken tracks include Neil having a conversation with a potato in a sewer, reciting a poem to his rubber plant, and experiencing a flashback. Also included is a parody horror movie commercial, which sees vegetarian Neil being turned into a carnivorous monster after accidentally eating a hamburger.

Among the originals is the Planer composition "Lentil Nightmare", a dark metal number that quotes from King Crimson's "The Court of the Crimson King" and features Planer singing in an uncharacteristic loud, high falsetto. In "Bad Karma in the UK", Neil's mum (played by musician Barbara Gaskin) admonishes him to watch his I Ching, chew his food eleven times, and remember his expectorant.

The album was heavily promoted by MTV, who had embraced The Young Ones and served as the sole outlet for the original LP in the US. A television commercial for the album had Neil in character talking about his "really beautiful" album, displaying a hole in his shoe, and hitting his head on a table.

01. "Hello Vegetables" – :26
02. "Hole In My Shoe" – 3:40
03. "Heavy Potato Encounter" – :42
04. "My White Bicycle" – 3:31
05. "Neil the Barbarian" – 1:12 (narrated by Nigel Planer's brother Roger Planer)
06. "Lentil Nightmare" – 5:47
07. "Computer Alarm" – :36
08. "Wayne" – 1:36
09. "The Gnome" – 2:29
10. "Cosmic Jam" – 2:26
11. "Golf Girl" – 4:40 (featuring Dawn French as a not-so-nice fairy godmother)
12. "Bad Karma in the UK" – 2:17
13. "Our Tune" – 1:13
14. "Ken" – :41
15. "The End of the World Cabaret" – 1:09
16. "No Future (God Save the Queen)" – 2:12
17. "Floating" – 1:39
18. "Hurdy Gurdy Man" – 3:46
19. "Paranoid Remix" – 1:59
20. "The Amoeba Song (From 'A Very Cellular Song')" – 1:19

Horrible Electric Musicians

* Bryson Graham - heavy metal drummer
* Gavin Harrison - flash studio drummer
* Pip Pyle - drunken cabaret drummer
* Jakko Jakszyk - heavy and psychedelic guitarist
* Dave Stewart - keyboardist, heavy metal bassist, useless drummer and fifties guitarist
* Rick Biddulph - cabaret bass & Rickenbacker 12 string

Beautiful Acoustic Musicians

* Jimmy Hastings - flute, saxophone and piccolo
* Annie Whitehead - trombone
* Barbara Gaskin - backing vocals
* Ted Hayton - backing vocals on "Hole In My Shoe"
* Rick Biddulph - 12 string guitar

Ivor Cutler - Jammy Smears (1976)

Ivor Cutler's final album for Virgin Records, 1976's Jammy Smears, is one of the best releases of his career. Kicking off with the jazzy piano tune "Bicarbonate of Chicken," a funny and bizarre dialogue with a waiter, the album runs through 31 brief songs, poems, and surreal short stories like the hilarious "Big Jim." About evenly split between recitations and songs like the catchy shaggy dog story "Barabadabada" and the oddly philosophical "Everybody Got," Jammy Smears features more of Cutler's piano playing than any of his albums other than 1967's jazz trio album Ludo. His trademark droning harmonium makes only a small handful of appearances. As on its predecessor, 1975's Velvet Donkey, Cutler's friend Phyllis April King reads five of her own poems and a short story, "The Wasted Call," on Jammy Smears, all of them based on life in and around a cottage in Dorset. Because most of Cutler's pieces this time out share the rural theme, with an episode of his ongoing Life in a Scotch Sitting Room, Volume Two centered around a family walk in the country and several poems and stories about birds, bugs, and other wildlife, King's contributions are much more smoothly integrated with the whole than they had been on Velvet Donkey. Cutler's usual morbid obsessions crop up infrequently, making Jammy Smears one of his sunniest and most playful albums.

01 Bicarbonate of Chicken
02 Filcombe Cottage, Dorset
03 Squeeze Bees
04 The Turn
05 Life in a Scotch Sitting Room, Volume Two, Episode Eleven
06 A Linnett
07 Jumping and Pecking
08 The Other Half
09 Beautiful Cosmos
10 The Path
11 Barabadabada
12 Big Jim
13 In the Chestnut Tree
14 Dust
15 Rubber Toy
16 Unexpected Join
17 A Wooden Tree
18 When I Stand on an Open Cart
19 High Is the Wind
20 The Surly Buddy
21 Pearly-Winged Fly
22 Garden Path at Filcombe
23 Paddington Town
24 Cage of Small Birds
25 Life in a Scotch Sitting Room, Vol. 2 EP.6
26 Irk Cutler 3:09
27 Lemon Flower
28 Red Admiral
29 Everybody Got
30 The Wasted Call
31 Wasted Call

thanks to JIM!

Tiny Tim - God Bless Tiny Tim (1968)

God Bless Tiny Tim was the first album by Tiny Tim. Released in 1968 on the Reprise label, it included "Tip-Toe Thru' The Tulips With Me" (the song which made him famous), a version of "I Got You Babe", and a collection of more obscure songs. Many of the songs have humorous lyrics, are sung for humorous effect, or have an unexpected hook. It is widely praised, but was not released on CD until the late 1990s, and then only in Japan.

The album was produced by Richard Perry, who had produced Captain Beefheart's first album, Safe As Milk, and was to go on to produce Diana Ross, Rod Stewart and Ringo Starr. The arrangements are by Artie Butler.

The songs were written by a variety of composers, most from the early 20th century, and most rather obscure, although "I Got You Babe" was by Sonny Bono, and "Stay Down Here Where You Belong" was by Irving Berlin.

For some of the album, Tim sings in his unusual falsetto style. However, on a number of songs, "Stay Down Here Where You Belong", "The Coming Home Party" and others) he sings baritone, demonstrating his voice's great range. In "On the Old Front Porch", "Daddy, Daddy, What is Heaven Like?" and on "I Got You Babe" he sings both baritone and falsetto, alternating between the two. A joke in "I Got You Babe" is revealed in the last words where both baritone and falsetto voices unexpectedly sing at once, revealing the apparently agile duet is actually himself singing double-tracked.

01. "Welcome to My Dream"
02. "Tip-Toe Thru' The Tulips With Me"
03. "Livin' in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight"
04. "On The Old Front Porch"
05. "The Viper"
06. "Stay Down Here Where You Belong"
07. "Then I'd Be Satisfied With Life"
08. "Strawberry Tea"
09. "The Other Side"
10. "Ever Since You Told Me That You Love Me (I'm A Nut)"
11. "Daddy, Daddy, What Is Heaven Like?"
12. "The Coming Home Party"
13. "Fill Your Heart"
14. "I Got You, Babe"
15. "This Is All I Ask"

The Rutles – The Rutles (1978)

One of rock's most enduring and insightful parodies, brilliantly mirroring The Beatles' career, “The Rutles” is the soundtrack to the spoof documentary television film “All You Need Is Cash,” which aired on NBC in the U.S. on March 22, 1978. The brainchild of Neil Innes and former Monty Python member Eric Idle, the film is beloved by Beatles fans worldwide and even features a cameo from George Harrison as a TV reporter. The Rutles themselves were Neil Innes as Ron Nasty (Lennon), Eric Idle as Dirk McQuickly (McCartney), Rikki Fataar as Stig O'Hara (Harrison) and John Halsey as Barry Wom (Ringo). The fifth Rutle, for recording purposes, was guitarist Ollie Halsall. It should be noted that Eric Idle does not perform on this CD. He lip-synched to Halsall’s vocals in the TV movie. This expanded CD issued in 1990 adds six tracks to the 14-track vinyl version first released by Warner Bros. in 1978. The soundtrack reached #63 on the Billboard album charts.

Musicians:

Neil Innes: Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
Ollie Halsall: Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
Rikki Fataar: Guitar, Bass, Sitar, Tabla, Vocals
John Halsey: Percussion, Vocals
Andy Brown: Bass


All songs written and produced by Neil Innes.

Tracks:

1. Goose-Step Mama*
2. Number Two
3. Baby Let Me Be*
4. Hold My Hand
5. Blue Suede Schubert*
6. I Must Be In Love
7. With A Girl Like You
8. Between Us*
9. Living In Hope
10. Ouch!
11. It's Looking Good*
12. Doubleback Alley
13. Good Times Roll
14. Nevertheless
15. Love Life
16. Piggy In The Middle
17. Another Day
18. Cheese And Onions
19. Get Up And Go*
20. Let's Be Natural

* bonus tracks for CD issue.

IVOR CUTLER : An Elpee and Two Epees (2005)

"Ivor Cutler's very earliest work was very hard to find in the decades after it was first issued. This compilation does an exemplary job of restoring it to wide availability, its 28 tracks combining everything from the 1961 LP Who Tore Your Trousers?, the 1959 EP Ivor Cutler of Y'Hup, and the 1961 EP Get Away from the Wall. Cutler's material would become more outrageously surreal on later recordings, perhaps, but these efforts are very much in step with the style for which he's beloved. With almost equal doses of spoken word and warbly singing with harmonium, these pieces take gentle pokes that subtly transform everyday experiences into something nearly surreal. It might be too gentle and subtle for those who like their comedy brash, or for Americans not attuned to his very British brand of humor. Still, it's easy to hear elements that the likes of the Bonzo Dog Band and Monty Python would take to more vivid (and more internationally accessible) extremes. And if it's not often laugh-out-loud funny, or too musically diverse, there's plenty of weird wordplay to generate amusement, such as his ode to a "Muscular Tree" and "Stick Out Your Chest," whose exhortative lyrics are totally undercut by Cutler's knowingly silly tone." - AMG

'Ivor Cutler plays "11 musical instruments including the harmonium, guitar, recorder, bamboo flute and 6 pianos". He has written 38 songs that might be described as a combination of Franz Kafka and the Goons.'

1. Here's A Health For Simon
2. Size Nine And A Half
3. Pickle Your Knees
4. Mary's A Cow
5. Gravity Begins At Home
6. Cowpuncher And A Bird
7. Boo Boo Bird
8. Steady Job
9. Obliging Fairy
10. First Love
11. Who Tore Your Trousers James
12. Are You Alright Jack
13. Red Flower
14. Do You Ever Feel Lonely
15. Warning To The Flies
16. Grass Seed
17. Market Place
18. Tooth Song
19. Egg Meat
20. Muscular Tree
21. Handymen
22. Sh Chi
23. Stick Out Your Chest
24. Turkish Bath Play
25. There's A Turtle In My Soup
26. Gruts For Tea
27. Get Away From The Wall
28. Tureen

jim said...
I thought you might like some Ivor Cutler...
THANKS, JIM!

Vivian Stanshall - Sir Henry at Ndidi's Kraal (1984)

Former Bonzo Dog leader Stanshall continued his Sir Henry "epic" with Sir Henry at Ndidi's Kraal, a record that probably raised hackles on its release in 1983, and maybe even more so now, with its portrayal of the white Englishmen and his superior attitude toward the black South Africans working for him -- at one point, he even paints letters of the alphabet on them (in white gloss) because he can't pronounce their names. But the thing to be remembered is that it's meant to be funny, a parody of those colonials who trampled unwittingly all over native customs in the name of Empire and civilization. On that level, it certainly succeeds, although following the narrative (assuming that's actually possible) is like finding your way out of the labyrinth; after so many twists and turns, it becomes almost impossible. Apart from one song, it's all spoken word, a vehicle for Stanshall's remarkable stream-of-consciousness wit and wordplay, while the musicians (including future Mekon Suzi Honeymoon) remain generally unobtrusive -- which is just as well, since the tale and its telling are quite mesmerizing without any accompaniment. So long as you don't ask what it's about, and take it as a gleeful exercise in the surrealism of the English language, you'll love this disc by the late Stanshall. - AMG

01 N'Didid's Kraal - Part One
02 N'Didi's Kraal - Part Two
03 N'Didi's Kraal - Part Three

The Bonzo Dog Band - Cornology (1992 compilation box set)

Cornology is a 1992 compilation box set of the complete recorded output of The Bonzo Dog Band issued on the Parlophone, Liberty and United Artists labels.

The three CDs each have subtitles. Volume one is titled The Intro and contains the albums Gorilla and The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse. Volume two is subtitled The Outro and contains the albums Tadpoles and Keynsham. Volume three is titled Dog Ends and contains their final original album Let's Make Up And Be Friendly along with early Bonzo Dog singles, odds and ends and solo material.



* 1 Track listing
o 1.1 Disc one--The Intro (DADA is normal--normal is nice)
o 1.2 Disc two--The Outro (The noises of your bodies are a part of this CD)
o 1.3 Disc three--Dog Ends (Mothers with children please note: this CD is inedible!)

Track listing:

All tracks by Neil Innes and/or Vivian Stanshall except were noted
Disc one--The Intro (DADA is normal--normal is nice):

Tracks 1-15 from the album Gorilla. Tracks 16-27 from the album The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse

1. "Cool Britannia" (Traditional) – 1:00
2. "The Equestrian Statue" – 2:44
3. "Jollity Farm" (Les Sarony) – 2:28
4. "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" (George Cory, Douglass Cross) – 1:04
5. "Look Out, There's A Monster Coming" – 2:54
6. "Jazz, Delicious Hot, Disgusting Cold" (Ash, Vernon Dudley Bohay-Nowell, Innes, Rodney Slater, Legs Larry Smith, Roger Ruskin Spear, Stanshall) – 3:10
7. "Death Cab For Cutie" – 2:56
8. "Narcissus" (Ethelbert Nevin) – 0:23
9. "The Intro And The Outro" – 3:03
10. "Mickey's Son And Daughter" (Connor, Edward Lisbona) – 2:43
11. "Big Shot" – 3:29
12. "Music For The Head Ballet" – 1:45
13. "Piggy Bank Love" – 3:03
14. "I'm Bored" – 3:07
15. "The Sound Of Music" (Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rodgers) – 1:23
16. "We Are Normal" – 4:50
17. "Postcard" – 4:22
18. "Beautiful Zelda" – 2:27
19. "Can Blue Men Sing The Whites" – 2:47
20. "Hello Mabel" – 2:46
21. "Kama Sutra" – 0:39
22. "Humanoid Boogie" – 3:04
23. "Trouser Press" – 2:20
24. "My Pink Half Of The Drainpipe" – 3:33
25. "Rockaliser Baby" – 3:29
26. "Rhinocratic Oaths" – 3:21
27. "11 Mustachioed Daughters" – 3:49

Disc two--The Outro (The noises of your bodies are a part of this CD):

Tracks 1-11 from the album Tadpoles. Tracks 12-25 from the album Keynsham.

1. "Hunting Tigers Out In INDIAH" (Stanley Damerell, Evans, Hargreaves) – 3:06
2. "Shirt" (Spear) – 4:27
3. "Tubas In The Moonlight" (Spear) – 2:22
4. "Dr. Jazz" (Walter Melrose, Oliver) – 2:40
5. "Monster Mash" (Leonard Capizzi, Bobby Pickett) – 2:59
6. "I'm the Urban Spaceman" – 2:23
7. "Ali-Baba's Camel" (Noel Gay) – 3:31
8. "Laughing Blues" (Bradley) – 3:44
9. "By A Waterfall" (Fain Kahal) – 3:08
10. "Mr. Apollo" – 4:20
11. "Canyons Of Your Mind" – 3:03
12. "You Done My Brain In" – 1:41
13. "Keynsham" – 2:22
14. "Quiet Talks & Summer Walks – 3:37
15. "Tent" – 3:06
16. "We Were Wrong" – 2:32
17. "Joke Shop Man" – 1:23
18. "The Bride Stripped Bare By 'Bachelors'" – 2:39
19. "Look At Me, I'm Wonderful" – 1:46
20. "What Do You Do?" – 3:12
21. "Mr. Slater's Parrot" – 2:27
22. "Sport" – 3:30
23. "I Want To Be With You" – 2:16
24. "Noises For The Leg" – 1:54
25. "'Busted'" – 5:47

Disc three--Dog Ends (Mothers with children please note: this CD is inedible!):

Tracks 7-17 from the album Let's Make Up And Be Friendly

1. "My Brother Makes The Noises For The Talkies" (Amberg, Bernauer, Raymond) – 3:02
2. "I'm Going To Bring A Watermelon To My Girl Tonight" (Conrad) – 2:03
3. "Alley Oop" (Dallas Frazier) – 2:32
4. "Button Up Your Overcoat" (Lew Brown, Buddy DeSylva, Ray Henderson) – 2:53
5. "Mr. Apollo" – 4:13 (Single Version) (German Version)
6. "Ready Mades" – 3:08
7. "The Strain" – 3:23
8. "Turkeys" – 2:10
9. "King Of Scurf" – 5:00
10. "Waiting For The Wardrobe" (Spear) – 2:47
11. "Straight From My Heart" – 3:06
12. "Rusty (Champion Thrust)" (Tony Kaye, Legs Larry Smith) – 7:05
13. "Rawlinson End" – 9:07
14. "Don't Get Me Wrong" – 4:53
15. "Fresh Wound" – 4:26
16. "Bad Blood" – 5:32
17. "Slush" – 2:20
18. "Labio-Dental Fricative" – 3:08 (Performed by Vivian Stanshall Sean Head Showband)
19. "Re-Cycled Vinyl Blues" – 3:32 (Performed by Neil Innes)
20. "Trouser Freak" (Spear) – 2:18 (Performed by Roger Ruskin Spear & His Giant Orchestral Wardrobe)

RE-POST: Neil Innes Book Of Records.....

Apparently, I Missed A Few In My Last Neil Post. Here It Is Again, With The Proper Corrections and a BIG BONUS!

Syd Barrett - Wouldn't You Miss Me? The Best of Syd Barrett (2001)

01 - Octopus
02 - Late Night
03 - Terrapin
04 - Swan Lee (Silas Lang)
05 - Wolfpack
06 - Golden Hair
07 - Here I Go
08 - Long Gone
09 - No Good Trying
10 - Opel
11 - Baby Lemonade
12 - Gigolo Aunt
13 - Dominoes
14 - Wouldn't You Miss Me (Dark Globe)
15 - Wined And Dined
16 - Effervescing Elephant
17 - Waving My Arms In The Air
18 - I Never Lied To You
19 - Love Song
20 - Two Of A Kind
21 - Bob Dylan Blues (Previously Unreleased)
22 - Golden Hair (Instrumental)

ROKY ERICKSON - I Have Always Been Here Before - The Roky Erickson Anthology (2005)

43 track comp of the 13th Floor Elevator's career. The later stuff is really great as well, despite his mental state.

Tracklisting
1. We Sell Soul - (with The Spades)
2. It's A Cold Night For Alligators - (with Roky Erickson & The Aliens)
3. Your Gonna Miss Me - (with 13th Floor Elevators)
4. Creature With The Atom Brain - (with Roky Erickson & The Aliens)
5. Stand For The Fire Demon - (with Roky Erickson & The Aliens)
6. Reverberation (Doubt) - (with 13th Floor Elevators)
7. Bloody Hammer - (with Roky Erickson & The Aliens)
8. Tried To Hide - (with 13th Floor Elevators)
9. Wind And More
10. Fire Engine - (with 13th Floor Elevators)
11. If You Have Ghosts - (with Roky Erickson & The Aliens)
12. She Lives (In A Time Of Her Own) - (with 13th Floor Elevators)
13. Song To Abe Lincoln - (with Roky Erickson & Blieb Alien)
14. Slip Inside This House - (with 13th Floor Elevators)
15. Anthem (I Promise)
16. Splash 1 - (with 13th Floor Elevators)
17. Dust - (with 13th Floor Elevators)
18. Warning (Social And Political Injustices)
19. Beast
20. I Had To Tell You - (with 13th Floor Elevators)
21. Postures (Leave Your Body Behind) - (with 13th Floor Elevators)
22. You Don't Love Me Yet
23. Clear Night For Love
24. Right Track Now - (featuring Roky Erickson & Clementine Hall)
25. Red Temple Prayer (Two Headed Dog) - (with Roky Erickson & Blieb Alien)
26. Don't Slander Me
27. Starry Eyes - (with Roky Erickson & Blieb Alien)
28. Nothing In Return
29. Burn The Flames
30. Bermuda
31. Interpreter
32. When You Get Delighted
33. True Love Cast Out All Evil
34. Mine Mine Mind - (with Roky Erickson & The Aliens)
35. For You (I'd Do Anything)
36. I Have Always Been Here Before
37. Click Your Fingers Applauding The Play - (with Roky Erickson & The Aliens)
38. Please Judge
39. We Are Never Talking
40. I Think Up Demons - (with Roky Erickson & The Aliens)
41. I'm Gonna Free Her
42. Don't Shake Me Lucifer - (with Roky Erickson & The Aliens)
43. White Faces - (with Roky Erickson & The Aliens)

Captain Beefheart - The Early Years 1959 - 1969 (European Bootleg, 1995 )

A nicely packaged European bootleg bringing together a whole bunch of rare and unavailable Magic Band goodies. Much of the content has since been included on the Grow Fins box set and Zappa's Mystery Disc CD but there are a couple of items here that are still not available commercially.

Overall the sound is pretty good although the Avalon tracks are not as good as they could have been (still great to get the very rare 'Blues Jam' track included though).

For a change this is a boot that has been compiled by a real fan and this shows in the sleeve notes which I'll include here:-

"The first track in this collection is probably the earliest recording of Don Van Vliet, recorded in a classroom at Antelope Valley College/High with Zappa on guitar and Beefheart on Vocals.

'Teenage Maltshop': believed to have been recorded circa 1963/4 at Zappa's Cucamonga studio Z, as part of a Teenage Opera, offered to Dot Records but turned down because of the distorted guitar. 'Metal Man...' also recorded in Studio Z in the main studio, but with Beefheart outside in the corridor to the studio singing whatever words were scribbled on the walls!

'Avalon Ballroom' 1966 was the first CB & Magic BAnd, probably CB, Doug Moon, Jerry Handley & Paul Blakely. This shows the influence of Howlin Wolf - he even says people have requested a Wolf song before singing 'Evil'.

'Frying Pan Acetate': An alt version. predates release on A&M.

'Almost Grown': Is an unreleased variation of a Chuck Berry song, & 'Call On Me': A much slower version than as released on Safe As Milk.

The 'Moody Liz Acetate', although very similar to the recently located Strictly Personal OT found by Sequel, is a White Label test Pressing with a similar as released version of 'On Tomorrow'. An item this fan would give my right arm to own.

Possibly more exciting is 'Korn Ring Finger'. Why this was not included on the Sequel CD amazed me ... An excellent track that you hope will never end.

This brings us up to the 'Trout Rehearsals' - they sound if they were made to be a part warm-up to the actual recordings. You can hear Don in the back throughout blowin his Sax from different parts of the room experimenting with the sound on 'Hair Pie' Variations. It was said by Beefheart that although the album was recorded very quickly, the amount of work that must have been put in by all the band members; to get to a stage where the instrumental backing was rteady for Beefheart to sing over these complex rhythms is awe inspiring ... & how he actually managed to add the vocals only he knows.

The immediate contrast between 'Moody Liz' & 'Korn Ring Finger' from the S. Personal Ots is extraordinary especially considering there is barely a year between the recordings ... 'Ella Guru' is a sheer delight to hear in its instrumental form, as are others on the CD.

These are not the digital recordings of the 90s ... But to be 'a fly on the wall' whilst one of the most amazing albums was being prepared for an unsuspecting public, & to hear some of the Early Years of Mr Don V Vliet playing with an equally very young Mr Zappa is a treat. We have included hopefully some of the rarities that maybe, just maybe will entice someone to try to dig into the vaults & find these hidden gems.

Next will be a look into the years 1970-1980.

'Ha Ha! That's Right...Just Dig It!!' D.V.Vliet 1969"

This was one of the great Beefheart boots when it was released. Unfortunately the projected Early Years Volume 2 never appeared.

You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 1

You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore vol 1
1. The Florida Airport Tape (1:04)
2. Once Upon A Time (4:38)
3. Sofa #1 (2:53)
4. The Mammy Anthem (5:41)
5. You Didn't Try To Call Me (3:39)
6. Diseases Of The Band (2:22)
7. Tryin' To Grow A Chin (3:44)
8. Let's Make The Water Turn Black/
Harry, You're A Beast/
The Orange County Lumber Truck (3:28)
9. The Groupie Routine (5:41)
10. Ruthie-Ruthie (Brock/Berry) (2:57)
11. Babbette (3:36)
12. I'm The Slime (3:13)
13. Big Swifty (8:47)
14. Don't Eat The Yellow Snow (20:16)
15. Plastic People (Zappa/Berry) (4:39)
16. The Torture Never Stops (15:48)
17. Fine Girl (2:55)
18. Zomby Woof (5:39)
19. Sweet Leilani (Owens) (2:39)
20. Oh No (4:34)
21. Be In My Video (3:30)
22. The Deathless Horsie (5:29)
23. The Dangerous Kitchen (1:50)
24. Dumb All Over (4:20)
25. Heavenly Bank Account (4:06)
26. Suicide Chump (4:56)
27. Tell Me You Love Me (2:09)
28. Sofa #2 (3:01)

Tom Waits - Nighthawks at the Diner (1975)

Nighthawks at the Diner is a 1975 album by Tom Waits, released on Asylum Records. The title was inspired by Edward Hopper's 1942 painting Nighthawks.

The album's working title had been "Nighthawk Postcards from Easy Street," but it was shortened to Nighthawks at the Diner.

The album was recorded live in Record Plant Studios, in front of a small invited audience. This gives the record an intimate feeling as Waits spends time telling stories, jokes and explaining the stories behind his songs through seven separate introductions.

Side One

1. "(Opening Intro)" 2:58
2. "Emotional Weather Report" 3:47
3. ""(Intro)" to "On a Foggy Night"" 2:16
4. "On a Foggy Night" 3:48
5. ""(Intro)" to "Eggs and Sausage"" 1:53
6. "Eggs and Sausage (In a Cadillac with Susan Michelson)" 4:19

Side Two

1. ""(Intro)" to "Better Off Without a Wife"" 3:02
2. "Better Off Without a Wife" 3:59
3. "Nighthawk Postcards (From Easy Street)" 11:30

Side Three

1. ""(Intro)" to "Warm Beer and Cold Women"" 0:55
2. "Warm Beer and Cold Women" 5:21
3. ""(Intro)" to "Putnam County"" 0:47
4. "Putnam County" 7:35
5. "Spare Parts I (A Nocturnal Emission)" Waits, Chuck E. Weiss 6:25

Side Four

1. "Nobody" 2:51
2. ""(Intro)" to "Big Joe and Phantom 309"" 0:40
3. "Big Joe and Phantom 309" Tommy Faile 6:29
4. "Spare Parts II and Closing" Waits, Weiss 5:13

Personnel

* Pete Christlieb – tenor sax
* Bill Goodwin – drums
* Jim Hughart – upright bass
* Mike Melvoin – piano, electric piano
* Tom Waits – vocals, piano, guitar

Jack Kerouac - Reads on the Road (1999)

While Rhino's compilation might mark a better place to start, Reads on the Road is certainly a worthy collection of some of Jack Kerouac's narratives and poetry, embellished by some actual singing. Kerouac is a more enjoyable author to hear reading on disc than most, since his prose had much of a jazz rhythm, and since he was an engaging reader/performer himself. The big find on this 74-minute CD is the 28-minute excerpt from On the Road his most famous and widely-read book, found on '50s acetates that had been thought lost. "On the Road" is presented as it was discovered, with just Kerouac's voice, but guitarist Vic Juris and Hammond organist John Medeski recorded music in 1998 for his early-'60s musical song-poem "On the Road" (a separate performance from his reading of material from the book). It's unexpected, and amusing if not brilliant, to hear Kerouac sing three jazz standards by the likes of Sammy Kahn, Johnny Mercer, and Gordon Jenkins in the late 1950s (presented with the original musical backing, by unknown musicians). David Amram, who had provided musical backup for Kerouac's readings in the late 1950s, wrote and recorded music in 1998 for two more Kerouac poems, cut by Kerouac in the back of a record shop, including the previously unpublished "Washington D.C. Blues," which runs for 17 minutes. Ending the set is Tom Waits, backed by Primus, doing yet another "On the Road," for which Waits put music to Kerouac's prose.

1 Aint' We Got Fun 02:34
2 On the Road (Jazz of the Beat Generation) 28:45
3 On the Road 02:18
4 Come Rain or Come Shine 03:42
5 Orizaba 210 Blues 09:34
6 When a Woman Loves a Man 02:57
7 Leavin' Town 03:04
8 Washington D.C. Blues 17:46
9 On the Road 03:58

Bonzo Dog Band - Normal Hawaiians

11 Mustachioed Daughters
Blind Date
The Strain
Cygnet Committee
Sail Away
Lead Us
Go Out Into the Open
I've Got A Braun New Girl
Ready Mades
Mattress Man
Dr. Rock
Brain Opera

Frank Zappa - Pregnant (1972, Compilation)

There seems to have been a double-LP version in the US (note: most people are quite certain that there never was a US Pregnant), but all we have here is a track list for the single LP version:

1. Hungry Freaks, Daddy (03:30)
2. How Could I Be Such a Fool? (03:28)
3. Uncle Bernie's Farm (02:09)
4. Son of Suzy Creamcheese (01:37)
5. Love of My Life (03:05)
6. Who Needs the Peace Corps? (02:46)

7. Mother People (02:34)
8. Jelly Roll Gum Drop (02:17)
9. Who Are the Brain Police? (03:30)
10. I Ain't Got No Heart (02:35)
11. Trouble Comin' Every Day (02:35)
12. Motherly Love (02:47)

The cover, credited to a Jürgen E Gesang (funny name), is by far the ugliest ever on a Zappa album (and it also appears on a various-artists compilation from Argentina called Sound Monsters

Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band - Keynsham (1969)

Side 1 Side 2
1. YOU DONE MY BRAIN IN (Innes) 1.40
An Affirmation of madness.
2. KEYNSHAM (Innes) 2.20
"We" are introduced.
3. QUIET TALKS & SUMMER WALKS (Innes) 3.15
All the romance of the novel.
4. TENT (Stanshall) 2.30
A penetrating inquiry & some recreations.
5. WE WERE WRONG (Stanshall) 2.30
Nostalgic routine. Spot the deliberate fag.
6. JOKE SHOP MAN (Innes) 1.23
The Armoury of Deception.
7. THE BRIDE STRIPPED BARE BY "BACHELORS"
(Stanshall/Innes) 2.35 Welcome t' Club Foot
8. LOOK AT ME, I'M WONDERFUL (Stanshall) 1.45
A warning.. 9. WHAT DO YOU DO? (Innes) 3.15
Nihilist chant before deciding, decoding, decanting,
n' chanting, N' baku, disgorging, dat's gorging piglets!
10. MR. SLATER'S PARROT (Stanshall) 2.18
Own-up Time. A paradox. Homely fun.
Demands for the right to live like a civilised human-bean.
11. SPORT (Stanshall) 3.20
(THE ODD BOY) Unusual flash-back.
Rehearsals for the Rape of the mind.
12. I WANT TO BE WITH YOU (Innes) 2.15
Sounds reasonable.
13. NOISES FOR THE LEG (Stanshall) 2.15
Procession of the Freaks. A horrid dream.
14. "BUSTED" (Stanshall/Innes) 5.40
Finale & extravaganza. Pate & Putty. The "ballet" of the
streets & an astounding wind-up. The End.

THE LINER NOTES

By Prof. Harvey J. Satan

WELCOME TO KEYNSHAM!

Population: 6 Bonzo's, their instruments, their songs, and YOU.

[ Whereas most people are NOT aloud to talk about "Keynsham"....I knew the right palms to cross with silver....and can henceforth reveal as much as I was aloud to be told by the locals.....at least until the full moon comes out. ]

Now read on....

SIDE ONE: Our journey begins with the cryptical warning, "I have personally won over....". This personal overthrow seems to have been achieved with the help of heavy machinery! Have androids taken over Keynsham? The first song, "You Done my Brain In", is all Neil, and a rocking good song about the alienation of relationships. Our singer loves the object of his affections so much, he can't even bare to be near her! We are then given our first warning about NOT mentioning the secrets of "Keynsham". And then we are given the very psychedelic song of "Keynsham" which weaves intricate word plays into lyrics, not unlike John Lennon's works, but tells us precious little about "Keynsham". This is followed by the very gentle, "Quiet Talks & Summer Walks", a song about the world seen through the eyes of a flower...yes, in "Keynsham" even the flowers are watching! Next the local dentists seems to be extracting not only teeth, but information as well! We are then treated to the wonderfully looney and loud, "Tent"! "Tent", I believe has always been a fan favourite just because it is so obnoxious in it's intentions and lyrics, and Vivian's vocals! ( He is very much loving singing this song! ).Next is, "We Were Wrong", a hilarious duet, with a lyric exchange between a couple....the twist here is, the couple is "Legs" Larry Smith & Vivian Stanshall. This song has a sort of 50's sound to it, and a great Neil duet on piano & organ. We then run into, "Joke Shop Man", a bit of a creepy song. It sings the virtues of the items a novelty shop sells, and then ends with a sort of haunting mantra of sound, that seems to indicate all of the Joke Shop's wares are suddenly marching on the city! "Bride Stripped Bare By "Bachelors", the next track in your song book, is a look at The Bonzo's themselves, as they arrive in "Keynsham" and receive a less than warm welcome. This may be the only song in which all the Bonzo's sing a solo line. We round out this side with, Look At Me I'm Wonderful", another coupling of "Legs" Larry Smith and Vivian Stanshall. This time it's a delightful poke at smarmy showbiz singers. ( And we fade out to the sounds of more machinery.....was the singer a machine trying to be a human? )

SIDE TWO: Our flip side starts off with the gently inquisitive, "What Do You Do?", Neil's look on the drudgeries of daily life. We are then treated to a really bad pun, followed by: "Mr. Slater's Parrot". This song is a delightful throwback to the early Bonzo sound, you can almost picture them all running about the stage squawking like parrots. Next, with the help of some simple hypnosis, we are reminded of our youth via, "Sport ( The Odd Boy )". This song is unique in it's change in styles,it starts off as baroque with the harpsichord, then becomes medieval with the recorder and drum, and then progresses into a rocking jam for bass and bells! Also amusing is the lyrical commentary that boys whom do not indulge in sport, are basically useless to society. Neil then indulges us in a rock ballad, "I Want To Be With You". ( You might almost think of this as his first song for Yvonne, his wife.). But all is not hearts and flowers, we soon learn that the local military have become werewolves! And to accompany this revelation, we are given "Noises For The Leg", an eerie horror film instrumental, featuring Roger Ruskin Spear on the theremin. Closing out our trip to "Keynsham", is the show stopping, "Busted", a commentary on Youth, Alienation, and The Police....it's actually more comical than it sounds. And as the song fades out, we hear our train taking us out of "Keynsham", and on to pastures new.

Afterward: It's hard to say if this album was ever meant to be a fully realized "concept" album or if it was altered in the final stages and quickly cobbled together. The complete "story", as read in the gatefold sleeve of the album seems to suggest this album was originally going to be both songs and words, rather than songs and bits of chat. The album works in it's final form, the spoken bits seem to add more mystique to it all, but one wonders how the fully completed narration would've sounded? ( Of course, if you are sitting around with friends, you could all get together and act it out for yourself! )

The score so far: At this point "Do Not Adjust Your Set" was over. The Bonzo's had done extensive touring, with bands like "Cream", "The Who", and the up and coming "Led Zepplin". The toils of touring were beginning to take their toll, and the differences in music styles between band members was also becoming a strain. ( How does one hold together a band who's members want to play "Trad. Jazz", "Rock" and "Avant Garde" ? ) This album was a good mix of styles, but it was becoming harder to accommodate all in the band. Not to mention the comings and goings of some band members, making it difficult to keep track of who wanted to still be a Bonzo!

EPILOGUE: As the lads exited the serene, yet slightly terrifying confines of this land known as "Keynsham", they found themselves at a true fork in the road. Three roads to take, three choices to make. The signs up ahead read thusly: "The Brain Opera", "The Break Up", and "The Contractual Obligation". Which would they choose? In true Bonzo form, it would be ALL three! ( More on that below and in our next episode, titled: "Let's Make Up And Be Friendly" )