Behold “Pleadin’” (above) and “Don’t Lie to Me” (below). A singer
& drummer named Mercy Baby aka Julius W. “Jimmy” Mullins recorded these wild
R&B numbers in the late 1950s on the now-defunct New Orleans label Ric
Records. We suggest you medicate yourself appropriately and then consider the
following 10 observations as you listen to these rollicking tracks.
10 Things to Consider
About This Release
1. Mercy Baby is a pretty good stage name. 2. The drumming (by Mercy) and the hollering (by Mercy) are quite
propulsive. 3. Notably, the guitar is played by one Frankie Lee Sims, a cousin
of Lightnin’ Hopkins. 4. Never underestimate the B-side! Especially for the horns. 5. The topics – pleading and lying – seem to go
hand-in-hand. 6. Apparently, pleading and lying can be great reasons to
jump around! 7. Neither of these records prospered. Mr. Mullins himself
died of a gunshot wound. 8. Once again great American music associates with tragedy
and a paucity of commercial success. 9. These tunes appear in the very formidable Shakers
Era. 10. Grab yr Sweetie Pie. Turn up the sound. & Shake
everything on yr body!
Discographic Information Mercy Baby. “Pleadin’” (A-side) b/w “Don’t Lie to Me” (B-side). Ric Records
955. Recorded in 1957 or 1958 in Jackson, Mississippi or in New Orleans. (Probably
released in 1958; potentially released late as 1960). Likely personnel: Mercy
Baby aka Julius W. “Jimmy” Mullins (drums and vocals); Jacquette Brooks
(saxophone); Jack White (saxophone); Willie Taylor (piano); Frankie Lee Sims
(guitar); Ralph Morgan (bass); other musicians, if any, unknown. Songwriting
credit: Jimmy Mullins and Joe Ruffino.
Sources of Information Discogs page
for the release on Ric Records 45cat page
for the release on Ric Records Wikipedia page
for Ric Records Wikipedia page
for Mercy Baby Wikipedia page for Frankie Lee
Sims Cosimo Code page
for Ric and Ron Records Jeff Hannusch. I Hear You Knockin’:
The Sound of New Orleans Rhythm and Blues. Swallow Publications, 1989 Jeff Hannusch. The Soul of New Orleans: A Legacy of Rhythm
and Blues. Swallow Publications, 2001 Stefan Wirz discography page for Frankie Lee Sims
Behold “Rockin’
This Joint To-Nite” and “Storm Warning”
Both of these shakers will rattle your marbles if you play them
loudly and you should play them loudly, Dear Reader, so beware the jostled
immies in your noggins. Both songs travel to us from 1959. The musicians who
recorded them led vastly different lives. One died in obscurity and tragically
at that. The other reached considerable heights. Nonetheless, both tunes
predict mischief and both deliver. Amply. They deserve our devotion so let’s get
to jumping! Shall we?
Kid Thomas – “Rockin’
This Joint To-Nite”
The man who would eventually call himself Kid
Thomas was born Louis Thomas Watts in Mississippi, circa 1934. He moved to
Chicago with his family at a young age and eventually began gigging in South Side clubs. In 1957, he convinced the mighty King Records to
record several songs but the company only released one of them on its
subsidiary label, Federal. This one single did not chart or generate any
recognition for the harmonica-playing bluesman. Having gotten little traction
in the Chicago music scene, Kid Thomas relocated to Los Angeles in 1959 where
he cut “Rockin’ This Joint To-Nite” b/w “You Are an Angel” on a micro-label,
Transcontinental Records.
Easily one of the roughest-sounding, hardest-charging songs of its generation, the
lyrics for “Rockin’ This Joint To-Nite” may have been hollered in emulation of
Little Richard, but the side occupies its own terrain somewhere between the
jump blues efforts of Chris Powell and Jimmy Preston, the Chicago electric
blues idiom, and the proto heavy metal developed by the controversial Pat Hare
in the mid-1950s. The ferocious shouting, amped-up harmonica, and relentless
guitar will rock the joint to-nite, to-morrow nite, and every other nite.
Unfortunately, “Rockin’ This Joint To-Nite” did not achieve commercial success.
Kid Thomas had few additional recording opportunities in Los Angeles and, by
1969, was working in L.A. as a landscaper. In that capacity, he accidentally
struck a boy with his lawnmowing equipment in 1969 and killed him. A few months
later, the boy’s father waited for Kid Thomas / Louis Watts outside a courthouse
and shot him to death. There is just too much sadness in this outcome to swing
this concluding note upward, but the ferocity of Kid Thomas’s record nevertheless ought to
remind us about living large, larger-than-life, while we still have the opportunity to
do so.
Mac Rebennack –
“Storm Warning”
Yes, someone recorded a song under the absolutely devastating,
winning name of Mac Rebennack. Born Malcolm John Rebennack, Jr., the fellow in question
would go on to call himself by a moniker—Dr. John—you may very well recognize. A
New Orleans native, Dr. John began his recording career as a teenager, and would
come to blend the rich Nola music he inherited along with voodoo, psychedelia, and
other genres. Eventually, he became a member of the famous group of session
musicians known as The Wrecking Crew, a winner of six Grammys, and an inductee
into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. His albums such as Gris-Gris (1968)
and Gumbo (1972) are well-known, important, and have received critical praise.
We here at Blood And Gutstein especially appreciate Gumbo because he
included a version of the folk song—“Little Liza Jane”—that features America’s favorite Poor Gal
Dr. John cut the instrumental “Storm Warning” as a seventeen-year-old
guitarist in New Orleans. He molded it in the “Bo Diddley vein” and the song
would go on to become a regional hit. We can understand why. First of all, Dr.
John / Mac Rebennack discredits the entire notion of “the calm before the
storm.” The song serves the dual purpose of predicting the “house rocking” to
come as well as actually rocking the house. A “storm warning” generated by a New
Orleans musician more than likely refers to a hurricane, and in this case, it’s
the two saxophonists—Lee Allen on tenor and Alvin “Red” Tyler on bari—who do the
hurricane-force blowing. In fact, Tyler really jumps the piece about halfway
through. He unleashes some muscular phrasing upon the groovy ladder that Rebennack,
et. al., offer via guitar, bass, keys, and drums.
As a teenager, Rebennack obeyed an impulse to rock
hard. He didn’t reinvent instrumental rock ‘n’ roll with this piece but, at the
same time, he substantially swung the proceedings. He also chose saxophone as
the soloing instrument in a genre that was increasingly turning to the electric
guitar for this kind of statement. Of course, coming from New Orleans, Dr. John
would naturally choose a horn to represent the virtuosity of the soloist, a practice that
another Nola musician—a cornetist / trumpeter named Louis Armstrong—established a few decades earlier
and, in doing so, in establishing the importance of soloing, would change
American music forever.
Best Practices When
Listening to These Songs
Dear Reader, we advise you to adopt the following protocols: —Liquid refreshments (e.g., corn liquor) wouldn’t hurt, but swill
these in moderation. —Put on some sensible slacks! —Engage your core. —Jump by squatting down low, then propelling yourself into
the air. Repeat often. —Above all else, invite your sweetie pie to join you. If you
don’t have a sweetie pie, then invite a nice companion to join you. This hardy
soul may—just may—turn into a sweetie pie, especially if you’ve observed all
the other best practices given above. Oi.
Kid Thomas
Discographic
Information
“Rockin’ This Joint To-Nite” A-side b/w B-side “You Are an
Angel.” Transcontinental T-1012, Hollywood, Calif., 1959. Kid Thomas aka Louis
Thomas Watts (vocals, harmonica). Other musicians, potentially including two
guitars, drums, and any other instruments, unknown. Songwriting credit: Kid
Thomas and Brad Atwood.
“Storm Warning” A-side b/w B-side Foolish Little Girl. Rex 1008, New Orleans,
1959. Likely personnel: Mac Rebennack aka Dr. John (guitar); Allen Toussaint
(keyboards); Frank Fields (bass); Charles Williams (drums); Lee Allen (tenor
sax); Alvin “Red” Tyler (baritone sax); and Melvin Lastie (trumpet). Other
musicians, if any, unknown. Songwriting credit: Rebennack.
Sources of Information Dr. John and Jack Rummel, Under a Hoodoo Moon, St.
Martin’s Publishing Group, 1995 45cat page
for “Storm Warning” Album Liner notes page for a Dr.
John anthology Wikipedia page for Dr. John Wikipedia page for Kid
Thomas AllMusic page
for Kid Thomas Bear Family Records page for Kid Thomas Mike Leadbitter and Neil Slaven, Blues Records, January
1943 to December 1966, Hanover Books, 1968. (Contains session information
for the 1959 Thomas recording.)
Behold “Park Avenue”
(above) and “Stampede” (below), two instrumental shakers recorded in 1959 by
The Scarlets, a group that would release only one 45 before morphing into
another group, or disbanding, or running riot. To be fair, it’s always possible
they power-walked or jogged riot. “Park Avenue” is the B-side, but we present
it first because we prefer it just a smidgen better than “Stampede.” We admit
that “Park Avenue” is brighter; “Stampede” is more malevolent. Still, we prefer
the B-side, slightly. And in case you haven’t noticed, we specialize in bands
like The Scarlets, who poked their heads out for just one recording session in
1959 — during that fertile Shakers
Era between the appearance of Elvis and the British Invasion of the Beatles
et. al.
After listening to “Stampede” we feel like walking the hot
summer streets at sundown just looking to heist — or hoist — an armored car. It
doesn’t matter, heist or hoist, we’re just fairly jacked up. With “Park Avenue”
on the other hand, we want to walk the hot summer streets at sundown and find
us some new sweetie pies. We want to tell them all sorts of tales about
ourselves — “we just heisted an armored car” — “we just hoisted
an armored car” — before whirling them about a dance floor to the strains of
that phat saxophone. O, we have torrid affairs with our new sweetie pies, and O,
our new sweetie pies have torrid affairs with us. (For couple of minutes,
anyhow. . . . . It’s all very innocent fwiw.)
As for you, Dear Readers, skip the heisting and hoisting and
go right for the new sweetie pies. We suppose you can keep your old sweetie pies
if you must. The key thing is to medicate yourselves (in moderation) and prepare
to jump (knee high?) when that phat sax arrives.
Discography and
Personnel: “Stampede” b/w “Park Avenue.” Dot Records 16004, Hollywood, Calif.
(1959). Also released on Prince Records PR 1207, Hollywood, Calif. (1959). Likely
personnel: Tony Lepard (drums); John Sanzone (guitar); Pete Antonio aka Pete
Antell (lead guitar); Bert Salmirs (piano); Howard Herman (saxophone); unknown
additional musicians may include a second saxophone and upright bass. Composition
credits: Wally Zober, Bert Salmirs, and Pete Antonio (“Stampede”); Wally Zober
and Bert Salmirs (“Park Avenue”). Earlier on, the band may have been known as Tony Leopard and
the Spots before changing to other names such as the Escorts and the Scarlets.
Antell, Salmirs, and Herman went on to have lengthy careers in music. Sanzone
seems to have been a Vietnam Veteran who served in the U.S. Navy. Not much is
known about Lepard and any of the other musicians who may have played on these
tracks.
Sources of
information: Discogs page for The
Scarlets Howard Herman website Pete Antell website AllMusic page for
Bert Salmirs’ composing credits Blogpost with some biographical information
on John Sanzone John Clemente. Girl Groups: Fabulous Females Who Rocked
the World. Author House, 2013 September 28, 1959 issue
of The Billboard
Behold “Weekday Ave.” I sometimes consider it to be the jewel
of Joy on Fire’s hard-charging (and mildly charting) 2022 album States
of America. Your humble blogger served as lyricist and vocalist for said
album, and as you might imagine, Dear Reader, I brought some poetry to the mix.
In this regard, you might detect echoes of Robert Hayden and Paul Celan. See
below for those details, as well as the full lyrics, but first let’s have a look
“under the hood” at the fabulous musicians who provide “Weekday Ave.” with its
formidable pulse.
Songwriter and guitarist / bassist John Paul Carillo directs
the highly textured musical expedition of “Weekday Ave.” — one that seamlessly
enters a variety of idioms. The song burns low-medium (or straight up the
middle) with some notable climbing action. While JPC may describe the overall
sound of Joy on Fire as “punk jazz,” this piece resists category. Ultimately, “Weekday
Ave.” offers a potent urban elegy, but not without the energetic stripe of
optimism that courses through the band’s catalogue.
Enter saxophonist Anna Meadors, who displays enviable
versatility throughout. She doubles the vocals, chants in opposition to the
vocals, and confers the sort of lyrical statement on saxophones (alto and bari)
that endows the song with most of its emotional content. (She also audio-engineered
the proceedings, including the addition of some synth keyboards.)
Drummer Chris Olsen delivers propulsive, off-kilter percussion,
which amply contradicts the typical enervated rhythms found, these days, on a
typical American weekday avenue.
The outro is sheer magic, and owes to John’s guitar
communicating with psychedelic themes as well as futuristic content. It should
be retroactively added to the sci-fi flick Blade Runner.
As for the lyrics, they are mostly original, but borrow from
two twentieth century poets.
If you know Robert Hayden’s masterpiece “Those Winter
Sundays,” then you might recall the phrase “weekday weather” as it applies to
the speaker’s father, whose hands cracked selflessly during manual labor in
just such climatology. From there, I arrived at “Weekday Ave.” — the typical
American thoroughfare capable only of generating “glassy condos,” “cute
t-shirts,” and symbolic outrage during a crisis. The enjoyable play between
“Weekday Ave.” and “weekday haven’t you” ensued straightaway.
I drew a little more from post-Holocaust European poet Paul
Celan, whose lines “Die Welt ist fort // ich muß dich tragen” (“The world
is lost // I must carry you”) ring outward from his 1967 collection, Atemwende,
or Breath-Turn. I invert and jumble these thoughts, with the singer (me)
requiring the burden of being carried. Much of everything returns to love, and
the inward turn we all take, when we lose someone. While Celan may have
intended his lines to read with centripetal gravity, the genius of his language
may reside in its elasticity — and universality.
As John’s outro proceeds, the concept of feeling
inwardness springs forth. I suppose there is a difference between inwardness
and feeling inwardness. The way there is a difference between “Weekday
Ave.” and “weekday haven’t you.” The way we might trip along, numbly, without forming
“a thinker’s word.”
The lyrics follow below. States of America
can be heard and purchased [here]. As
always, Dear Reader, we urge you to don sensible attire, alter your mindset
responsibly, and hardly resist when your body begins to move without any
inhibitions. Oi.
Weekday Ave.
Scream, a siren The scream alone “O” of outrage & secondhand time
[Chorus:] Weekday Ave. Or weekday haven’t you? Weekday Ave. Weekday Ave. Weekday Ave. Or weekday haven’t you?
Yeah! / Yeah!
Glassy condos & cute t-shirts Never require A thinker’s word
[Chorus]
Da-da da-da! // You must carry me Da-da da-da! // The world is lost Da-da da-da! // And if the world is lost Da-da da-da! // I feel inwardness!
[Da-da da-da! + Chorus]
I feel inwardness […]
personnel
John Paul Carillo: bass guitar, electric guitar, songwriting Anna Meadors: Vocals, alto sax, bari sax, sound engineering Chris Olsen: Drums, percussion Dan Gutstein: Lyrics, vocals
“Weekday Ave.” & States of
America appeared on Procrastination Records (2022).
Behold “When Hollywood Goes Black and Tan.” Recorded in 1935
by singer-pianist par excellence Cleo Brown, the piece swings in the
most nourishing ways. Our musicology team has been working overtime to present complete
lyrics (below) and, as ever, our critical acumen. Let’s examine the mechanisms
of a bright tune that will propel us into the air, jumping.
a proper overview
of the song
The opening riff circles energetically a few times before
the band enters and the song drives toward the vocals. Brown’s voice veers
between propulsive forcefulness and angelic flourishes. Meanwhile, she confers
a torrential workout upon the keyboard, with her notoriously powerful left hand.
As a listener, Dear Reader, you may feel “swung” — but can you imagine what the
piano must’ve gone through? It experienced dizzying sensations that few
uprights have ever encountered. We love how the call and response verifies the
bold vision (in 1935) of a Black and tan Hollywood.
roots in ellington?
The royal Duke Ellington may have partly
inspired this song. He first recorded his own composition “Black and Tan Fantasy”
in 1927 and then, a couple of years later, starred in the early talkie Black
and Tan. This short fictional film would introduce the magnificent actress
and dancer Fredi Washington in her big screen debut. Not simply a musical, Black
and Tan turns surprisingly elegiac at its conclusion, with the Ellington Orchestra
playing “Black and Tan Fantasy” in a dimly-lit apartment setting as the
character played by Washington passes away. Added to the National Film Registry
in 2015, Black and Tan offers a remarkable conduit for the Ellington
composition, which has since been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
a bold vision
If Ellington’s composition began to foreshadow societal change,
the Brown recording situated this coming transformation in the “promised land”
of Hollywood, among the country’s elite performers. Composed by the brotherly songwriting
duo of Leon René and Otis René, “When Hollywood Goes Black and Tan” introduces
a host of burgeoning African American talents. Louis Armstrong, for instance, had already made his mark as a jazz trumpeter and singer.
Other names may not be quite as familiar: musician Bob Howard, actor Stepin
Fetchit, actress Nina Mae McKinney, and singer Ethel Waters. By comparing these
new Black stars to established white talents such as Fred Astaire and Ina
Claire, the pianist-singer Brown and her bandmates propound a very compelling Black
and tan reality. Notably, “The Mayor of Harlem” may refer to African
American dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson.
here’s good news and
it’s the newest
While a boxing match between champion James Braddock and
contender Joe Louis may have been “in the air,” the bout itself wouldn’t transpire until
1937, about two years after this song was recorded. In the end, Louis defeated
Braddock, capturing the lineal heavyweight title. In time, Louis would become
the first national African American hero, after he knocked out the German
fighter Max Schmeling on the eve of World War II. In celebrating the rise of Louis
and other stars, “When Hollywood Goes Black and Tan” doesn’t advocate the old dance
moves of “wing-and-buckin’” but insinuates that “Everybody will be truckin’”
instead. Yeah man!
the career of miss
brown
Born in 1909 in Mississippi, Cleo Brown moved as
a young teenager with her family to Chicago in the early 1920s. She learned stride
piano from her brother and, before long, began performing in Chicago speakeasies.
There, she met the likes of King Oliver and Louis Armstrong. Over the next
several years, she toured regionally with different groups and notably, in 1934,
performed at the same club (The Three Deuces) as jazz pianist Art Tatum. In
addition to Tatum, she met a who’s who in jazz circles while performing at The
Three Deuces. In 1935, Brown moved to New York, where she took over Fats Waller’s
radio show, signed a recording deal with Decca, and produced her first recordings.
Over the next 15 years, she toured all over the country before dropping out of show
business to become a nurse and a church musician. In the 1980s, pianist Marian
McPartland rediscovered Cleo Brown living in Denver and brought her to New York
to record a segment for McPartland’s show Piano Jazz that aired on NPR.
A short while later, the NEA awarded Cleo Brown a Jazz Masters Fellowship.
Based upon the NPR broadcast, just about anybody would note the graciousness
and kindliness of Miss Brown. She passed away in 1995.
complete lyrics
“When Hollywood Goes Black and Tan” Cleo Brown, 1935
Creole babies from Manhattan Will be leaving Harlem if they can Yeah man! (Oh yeah, man!) When Hollywood goes black and tan Louis Armstrong with his trumpet Will be heading westward with his band Yeah man! (Oh yeah, man!) When Hollywood goes black and tan Harlem crooners with a swing Will be singing at the studio Makes no difference if you can’t sing Just say, “Heedie-heedie-hidie-ho!” When they start to swing that rhythm I’ll be heading for that promised land Yeah man! (Oh yeah, man!) Yeah man! (Oh yeah, man!) You won’t find them wing-and-buckin’ Everybody will be truckin’ It’s gonna be grand When Hollywood goes black and tan The mayor of Harlem says he’ll be there To give those boys a helpin’ hand Yeah man! (Oh yeah, man!) When Hollywood goes black and tan Old Bob Howard made a promise To latch onto that baby grand Yeah man! (Oh yeah, man!) When Hollywood goes black and tan Stepin Fetchit’s gonna sing and dance Like Fred Astaire Nina May don’t have to sing Cause she can be petite like Ina Claire Waters [is] gonna do a fan dance And shake those feathers off her fan Yeah man! (Oh yeah, man!) Yeah man! (Oh yeah, man!) Here’s good news and it’s the newest: Braddock’s going to meet Joe Louis It’s gonna be grand When Hollywood goes black and tan
discography Personnel: Cleo Brown (vocals, piano); Bobby Sherwood
(guitar); Manny Stein (string bass); Vic Berton (drums); backup vocals likely
by band. Recorded Nov. 20, 1935, in Los Angeles. “When Hollywood Goes Black and
Tan” released as Decca 632 and Brunswick 02123 B-side b/w “When” A-side. Lyrics
by Otis René and Leon René. [Interestingly enough, both songs on this release
share the same first word, even as they are very different songs. Most of all,
never underestimate the B-side!]
sources of
information —Whitney Balliett, American Singers: Twenty-Seven
Portraits in Song. University Press of Mississippi, Jackson, 2006. —Eugene Chadbourne, “Cleo Brown.” AllMusic Guide to the
Blues. Backbeat Books, San Francisco, 2003. —NEA Jazz Masters page for Cleo Brown. —NPR page
for Cleo Brown’s appearance on Piano Jazz. —Brian Rust, Jazz Records 1897-1942: Volume 1. Arlington
House, New Rochelle, NY, 1978. —Mary Unterbrink, Jazz Women at the Keyboard. McFarland,
Jefferson, NC, 1983. —Wikipedia page for “Black
and Tan Fantasy.” —Wikipedia page for Black
and Tan (film). —Wikipedia page
for Cleo Brown. —Wikipedia page for Leon René. —Wikipedia page for Otis René.
The Cuban composer
plays a version from his 1954 albumLecuona
Plays Lecuona. It
would be the (relative) calm before the shakers.
the king of 1947 cuban
pop Behold “Malagueña.” Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona wrote the
piano piece no later than 1931, with reference to the Spanish town Málaga. In
1947, LIFE magazine crowned Lecuona the king of Cuba’s popular music,
and noted that “Malagueña” had been, by then, a hit in the United States for 16
years. (According to LIFE, Tin Pan Alley music publishing houses in New
York had sold 100,000 copies of the composition every year since 1931.)
Performances and / or recordings by Marco Rizo, Caterina
Valente, Violetta Villas, Connie Francis, and Stan Kenton — not to mention the
royal figure of Count Basie — would continue to popularize the song among audiences all over the world. But we digress. After all, we here at Blood
And Gutstein tend to specialize in a genre known as “Long Lost.” And the songs
we tend to put forward will rattle your speakers. Therefore, let’s take a look
at three examples of how rock ‘n’ roll transformed this Cuban composition into a banging shaker.
three rock ‘n’ roll extravaganzas
Ali Hassan aka Al Hazan. This song asserts itself immediately and jumps soon thereafter. With
piano just as percussive as the drums, and played to excess in the upper
register (we approve), the arrangement makes plenty of potent arguments,
including: — “Given the hubbub, why don’t we engage in romance?” — “Yes, let’s.” — “Well, all reet then. Shall we remove our garments?” — “We shall.” Not to be outdone, the guitar really wails. Thus, we have
some percussive keys, phat drums (the train is coming), and blistering
guitar. We have people ripping each other’s duds off, no less! Session information: Ali Hassan (Al Hazan), producer and probably
piano. Other musicians unknown. A-side “Malagueña” b/w B-side “Chopsticks.” Philles
103, Los Angeles, 1962. [Notably, the Philles label was founded by none other
than the notorious Phil Spector and one Lester Sill. Also notably, Al Hazan
played piano on the UK number one hit “Nut Rocker” by B. Bumble and the
Stingers.]
The Wildtones. Little is known about this group, which may
have cut only two songs under that name. On the one hand, “King Cobra” may be a
bit deceptive, as the classic “Malagueña” riff runs nearly throughout the entire
song (on guitar), and offers the other musicians a sturdy, hypnotic ladder upon
which they can howl into or batter their instruments. On the other hand, “King
Cobra” is probably an apt summary for the mayhem that ensues, especially the
venomous saxophone. Or, “blistering,” if you will, and you will. Call the
drumming “surfy,” call the horn “borderline avant,” call the guitar “twangy”
(or Duane Eddy-esque) and then you’ll have some estimation of this eclectic
cacophony! Session information: The Wildtones. Musicians unknown.
A-side “King Cobra” b/w B-side “Mendelssohn Rock.” Tee Gee 105, New York, 1958.
Writing credited to “Ford” and “Newman.” [Notably, Tee Gee records was owned by
George Goldner, a pioneer record producer who recorded, interestingly enough,
the song “Gee” by The Crows, which became a hit on both the R&B and pop
charts.]
The Trashmen / Los Trashmen. These Midwest rockers present a
clear-cut surf treatment of the song. It reverberates heavily with ghost waves (we approve) and behaves suspensefully before the lead guitarist slashes into
the proceedings. As a “building” or “climbing” or “burrowing” song, we find the
musicians drifting into and out of numerous effervescent idioms. The
“smoothest” cover of the three rock ‘n’ roll versions, don’t underestimate this
song’s edgy properties and virtuosic musicianship. It propels the surfer, after
all, through the barrel of a breaker! Session information: The Trashmen. Likely personnel: Troy
Andreason (guitar), Dal Winslow (guitar), Robert Reed (bass), Steve Wahrer
(drums). The song was recorded in 1963 or early 1964, and would be released in
LP, EP, and 7-inch formats in the U.S. and abroad. For the original LP release,
see Surfin’ Bird, Garrett Records, January 1964. Otherwise, we have Los
Trashmen, Gamma 578 A-side “Malagueña Surf” b/w B-side “Mi Cuate” (Mexico, 1965). [Speaking of the
band’s flagship song, “Surfin’ Bird,” it rose to No. 4 in the charts in 1963-64,
and would go on to be covered by several bands, including the Ramones and the
Cramps, and appear in film, television, video games, and other extravaganzas.]
the upshot Rock musicians have always repurposed songs from other eras and genres. This continued, for sure, with “Malagueña.” These bands rocked all of our pronouns: we, us, me, I, and you. Now that you’ve been rocked, Dear Reader, it’s up to you how
to proceed. We always suggest moderation here at Blood And Gutstein. Thus, you
could jump, there, all by yourself, if you need an aerobic workout. You could
surf if your abode abuts (!) saltwater climes. Or you could telephone your
sweetie pie and propose romance. We have found that mere mention of the song
title — “Malagueña” — tends to propose romance. Yes, you can text, ping, and
DM, if you must, and if you must, just propose romance responsibly and (always)
bear the gift of music, wink wink.
sources of
information: Billboardadvertisement
(for Surfin’ Bird) January 11, 1964 Black Cat Netherlands page for Al Hazan Discogs entry
for “King Cobra” by The Wildtones Discogs entry
for Lecuona Plays Lecuona, 1954-55 Discogs entry
for “Malagueña” by Ali Hassan / Al Hazan Discogs entry
for “Malagueña Surf” by The Trashmen LIFEarticle
on Cuban music Oct. 6, 1947 Wikipedia entry for George
Goldner Wikipedia entry for “Malagueña” Wikipedia entry for Surfin’
Bird (album) Wikipedia entry for “Surfin’
Bird” (song)
Behold the music video for “In Speaking Like Thunder.” It completely
eradicates the distance between Jazzpunk and Horror, leaving us stranded in a world
that crosses rural sectarianism with discordant Middle Ages topographies. With
music by Joy on Fire, lyrics and vocals by your humble blogger, and video by
Daphne Bacon and Cody Snyder, “In Speaking Like Thunder” will have you reaching
for a talisman and a baggie of shrooms alike.
The main character and his fellow townsfolk attempt to
confront a series of omens in the form of moonlit disturbances, grisly discoveries
in the woods, puzzling iconography, and dizzying isolations. A proliferation of
period weapons — scythe, axe, pitchfork — accompany the period garb of a
transcendent era. Viewers will hardly doubt the extensive lubrication proffered
by meads, wines, and grogs; surely, there must be some greenery in that phat
pipe!
After a torch-wielding posse melts away, the main character confronts
a bipedal forest beast who has fostered all the mayhem. The man bows down
before the beast. He embraces the beast. The two even dance together. Then, the
clouds part and the full moon confers some sobriety on what will surely be a gruesome
conclusion. The lines “At night / I am the night” may apply to the powerful
beast, or they may apply broadly to the moon-force, or the presence that speaks
“like thunder.”
The music veers between an up-register drone and crunching
narrative; between free jazz outrage and gnawing synthesis. Indeed, all these
sounds congeal at once as the instruments stretch toward the denouement of the
final, mad dance. As for the lyrics, this is the second time I wrote a song in French,
before bringing it over to English. (Also see “Unknown City.”) My French is
hardly perfect, but in the translation, cometh the jaggedness.
The lyrics in both languages follow below. May they inspire
new thoughts and images. May you play the song loud, pour yourself something mildly
intoxicating, and jump around in the usual manner. Oi.
In Speaking Like Thunder
In speaking The thunder In speaking Like thunder In speaking The thunder In speaking Like thunder
My word As crazy as My word As crazy as the mouth My word as crazy as The mouth of God My word as crazy as The Mouth of God
At night I am the night At night I am the night At night I am the night At night I am the night
At night In speaking I am the night Like thunder At night In speaking I am the night Like thunder
En Parlant Comme le Tonnere
En parlant Le tonnere En parlant Comme le tonnere En parlant Le tonnere En parlant Comme le tonnere
Ma parole Aussi fou que Ma parole Aussi fou que la bouche Ma parole aussi fou que La
bouche de dieu Ma parole aussi fou que La
bouche de dieu
A nuit Je suis la nuit A nuit Je suis la nuit A nuit Je suis la nuit A nuit Je suis la nuit
A nuit En parlant Je suis la nuit Comme le tonnere A nuit En parlant Je suis la nuit Comme le tonnere
