Casey's Record Review: Super Stars, Super Hits (1968)

 

I have a soft spot for compilation albums from the sixties and seventies. In my youth, I was a big consumer of K-Tel "hits" compilations.  Like K-Tel, Columbia Records put out a large amount of compilation albums featuring their own artisits but, unlike K-Tel, usually offered only a handful of hits filling out the rest record with B sides, failed singles and album cuts. 

"Super Stars, Super Hits, No.2" continues the formula with middling success. Yes, they include some bona fide hits; "Brown Eyed Girl" (Van Morrison), "The Letter"(Box Tops), "How Can I Be Sure" (Young Rascals) and "Do You Believe In Magic" (Lovin' Spoonfu), among others. But it's the more obscure songs that make it interesting.

Some of the highlights/lowlights include;

Out Of The Blue (Tommy James & The Shondells) This song was released as a single within' a year or so of a lot of his big hits but it failed to make the charts in the US. It did hit the lower reaches of the top 40 in Canada. The song was written by Bo Gentry and Richard Cordell who co-wrote other Tommy James tunes like "Mirage", "I Think We're Alone Now" and "Mony, Mony". One of the reasons for it's lack of succsess could be that it sounds like Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons. Perhaps the kids didn't realize it was Tommy James. Maybe it is an homage to The Four Seasons. Who knows. A rather weird entry in his catalog. 

You Better Sit Down Kids (The Union Gap) A terrible but fascinating song by Gary Puckett and the gang. The song was written by Sonny Bono and was a top ten hit for his then wife Cher. A pretty bad song even when Cher does it, this version is even worse with the slowed down tempo and way over the top sixties "kitchen sink" pop production (schmaltzy strings, Vegas horns, corny background vocals etc..) "You Better Sit Down Kids" is a divorce song. It's the words of a Father saying goodbye to his children with fluctuating time signatures and confusing stops and starts. This is a poigniant subject and the Union Gap pull at the heartstrings for all they're worth. It was probably pretty controversial in it's time but the subject matter was covered more creatively by other artists

We Belong Together (Peaches & Herb) An interesting cover of the old Ritchie Valens' classic. Stays pretty loyal to the original but with a nice sixties soul twist. 

Pennies (The Cowsills) A great slice of sixties pop from the Cowsills. This is from their self-titled debut, the same album that spawned the hit single "The Rain, The Park And Other Things". The Penny Lane-esque trumpet makes the song. I have seen the 'Sills three times over the past couple of years. How many people outside of Rhode Island can say that!

My copy of this record is really scratched and beat up.. It was obviously played many, many times and not well taken care of. One of the things I enjoy about collecting used records is that it is actually an artifact from another age. I don't believe this album was ever reissued which means my copy is almost sixty years old. By the unhip song selection and the condition of the disc, I imagine it was owned by someone between, say, twelve and sixteen. Maybe it was a birthday or Chrismas gift. They probably played it on a cheap plastic record player in their room. Maybe they played Twister or Operation while listening to it. Come to think of it, it seems like the type of record one of the Brady Kids would have owned back then. Maybe Greg had a copy in his pre-Johnny Bravo days. Alice and the kids probably grooved to it all night long or at least until Mike came home for dinner.

Greg Brady; Pre-Johnny Bravo

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Lori Partridge: Unsung Prog Rock Hero

 

Lori Partridge unsung prog rock hero? Absoulutely. When we think of amazing keyboard players from that era, who comes to mind? Keith Emerson (ELP), Rick Wakeman (Yes) Daryl Dragon (Captain & Tennille) but, for some reason, Lori is largely forgotten.  

Sure, she never got to play twenty minute classical music solos at mach-speed (Keith Emerson) or got to wear a super groovy cape (Rick Wakeman) or make her keyboard sound like love mad muskrats (Daryl Dragon) but she had chops. Check out her harpsichord break on "I think I Love You". Do you need more evidence than that?

Emerson, Wakeman & Dragon

Unfortunatley, Lori was over-shadowed by her ego-maniacal brother, Keith, and her overbearing Mother.  After the Partridge's broke up, I thought she might join King Crimson or start her own prog-rock band (The Lori Partridge Experience, perhaps) but, alas, it was not to be.

Instead she joined a law firm in L.A and her hair turned yellow. A sad ending to a once promising career.

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Rust Never Sleeps or Neil’s Upsetting Haircut

It was forty-two years ago this week that Neil Young released Rust Never Sleeps. I saw the movie at a Midnight showing in the early 1980s with some high school friends. We were jacked up on Genesse Cream Ale.

The movie was great but I remember being disappointed that Neil had cut off his long hair. At the time, I wanted long hair in the worst way. But, being a Catholic school kid, we couldn’t have long hair because Jesus was against it.

I remember finding this confusing because there were pictures of Jesus all over school and he looked like a Deadhead. He also had blonde hair and blue eyes but was supposedly born in the Middle East. Needless to say, this was a confusing time for me.

Despite Neil’s haircut, it’s a good movie. Check it out.

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Casey’s Record Review: Neil Young’s Old Ways (1985)

 The eighties must have been a hard time for the classic rock gods of the sixties and seventies. After years of being the arbiters of all that was hip and cool in the culture, they turned into uncool clueless dinosaurs overnight. Listen to pretty much any classic rock artist’s eighties albums and you can hear the excruciating sound of old people desperately trying, and mostly failing, to remain hip.

Which brings us to Neil Young. Contrary to his hippie brethren, I don’t think Neil Young has ever made any attempt to “keep up with the kids”. That being said, it doesn’t make his eighties musical output any less bizarre.

Starting in 1983,Young released a series of weird albums  that saw him changing musical genres about as often as he changed his socks. From synth pop (Trans,1982) to rockabilly (Everybody’s Rockin’,1983) country (Old Ways, 1985), synth metal...maybe? (Landing On Water, 1986) to big band blues (This Note’s For You, 1988).

The constant genre hopping not only confused and alienated his audience but also so infuriated his record company that they sued him for, basically, being too weird.

By the early nineties, after putting out several critically acclaimed albums and being embraced by young bands like Pearl Jam and Sonic Youth, he was being hailed as St.Neil and The Godfather Of Grunge and his weird eighties albums were thought of, if they were thought of at all, as a regrettable period in an otherwise stellar musical career.

I purchased most of these recordings at the time of their release and have periodically gone back and revisited them and must say that most of it is at best forgettable and at worst, just plain awful. The only exception to that last statement being 1985’s Old Ways. 

Filled with the sounds of fiddles, steel guitars and banjos, this was Neil Young’s attempt to crossover to the country charts. To help legitimize him to the country audience, he even duets on a couple of songs with Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings.

Although it is now seen as just another one of his weird genre experiments, at the time, Neil gave every indication that he was leaving the rock n roll world to become a permanent member of the country music community. He made the rounds on a number country music talk shows, did a full length tour to support the album and, perhaps to help ingratiate himself to conservative leaning country music fans, even made statements supporting President Ronald Reagan’s foreign policy initiatives. 

Needless to say his old fans were aghast at all of this, especially his support of Ronald Regan, while the country music establishment didn’t buy the hippie-in-a-cowboy-hat bit. As a result, Old Ways is the worst selling album in Neil Young’s entire catalog.

All that being said, Old Ways is a really good Neil Young record. Despite a lot being made of his use of Nashville studio musicians, the record is not much of a departure from his other acoustic based albums. Think Harvest or Comes A Time with just a little more twang.

Yes, the duet with Willie Nelson, Are There Anymore Real Cowboys and the remake of Gogi Grant’s 1956 hit, The Wayward Wind are a bit corny but the album contains some great original tunes. Bound For Glory, My Boy, Once An Angel and California Sunset can stand with anything on Comes A Time or Harvest Moon and the backing band, a combination of Nashville session heavyweights and some of Neil’s long time collaborators, is stellar.

Old Ways is worth checking out though it can be a little  difficult to find. It’s not available on many of the big streaming services but their are plenty of used cd and vinyl copies around. I actually bought a cassette copy on Amazon. How’s that for old ways?

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Casey’s Record Review: Sonny & Brownie (1973)

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An amazing early seventies set of Blues, Soul, Folk and Gospel from the incomparable Brownie Mcghee and Sonny Terry.  This album is a big departure from their usual acoustic duo perfrormances.  On this record they really stretch out using a full studio band with guest apperances by John Mayall, John Hammond Jr., Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Arlo Guthrie and Michael Franks (who also wrote three songs on the album). Interestingly, the album cover was designed by Dean Torrence of Jan & Dean fame.

Yes, you will get your fill of straight ahead blues, "Sonny's Thing", "Walking My Blues Away" and the humorous "White Boy Lost In The Blues" but it is the electicism of the material I find most interesting.  The album was produced by the legendary Maurice Rogers and, perhaps, he had a hand in pushing the duo to explore more contemporary and experimental material. They cover a couple of Soul classics; Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready" and Sam Cooke's "Bring It On Home To Me" plus a couple of great Gospel songs; "Jesus Make it Right" and the powerful and playful "God And Man" (written by producer Rogers). The highlight of the album may be their stunning rendition of Randy Newman's anti-slavery anthem "Sail Away".

Although they play with band accompainment throughout the recording, the production is laidback and tasteful giving Brownie and Sonny plenty of room to shine.  The duo laugh and banter throughout especially on the final track, a cover of the old blues classic "On The Road Again" where they reminisce about their many years traveling the world together.

I've read that despite outward apperances, Sonny and Terry did not get along well off stage.  Legend has it that Sonny Terry had been against recording with drums and electric instruments and was unhappy with the results. Things eventually got so bad between the two that though they continued touring they refused to appear on stage together, each bringing their own accompianist and performing without the other.

It's a shame the two couldn't work things out.. It would have been intersting to hear more recordings in this vein.  Still it is a great lost blues album of the Seventies and well worth a listen.

--Casey Redmond

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Six Questions With Tommy And The Rockets

Tommy Stubgaard (aka. Tommy And The Rockets) is a rock n roller from Odense, Denmark. Playing a joyous mix of fifties and sixties influenced pop punk, he has released three albums and a handful of EPs and singles chock full of songs about summer, fun and girls. He has worked with members of The Connection and The New Trocaderos and last year released a single with The Dahlmanns.  His latest release is a split 12” with Sweden’s Psychotic Youth called, "Scandinavian Flavor" It is available digitally and on vinyl and CD courtesy of Snap Records. 

CASEY:  Tell me about your early days?

TOMMY:  I grew up in Odense, Denmark.  Population about 175,000.  I grew up with my mom and my older brother who's about three years older than me. I have three half brothers, as well.  I moved to Copenhagen when I was about 26, but moved back to Odense when I started having kids.  I like it here. It's not too small for nothing to ever happen but also not so big that it totally consumes you. I do miss Copenhagen though, especially when it comes to music related stuff.

CASEY:  When did you start getting into music?

TOMMY:  I started to listening to music seriously at a very early age.  My Dad listened to stuff like Shakin' Stevens, George Thorogood, Wreckless Eric, Dave Edmunds and stuff like that, music that I still listen to to this day.  My older brother brought home a lot of albums from the local music library when I was very young and that sort of paved the way into my fascination with the Ramones and AC/DC. I always find it difficult mentioning all of the bands and artists I've been inspired by since there are so many. My all time favorite is The Ramones.  Rocket To Russia is my all time favorite album.

CASEY:  When did you start playing music?

TOMMY: Got my first acoustic guitar at age ten or eleven and got my first electric guitar at thirteen.  I had a few guitar lessons by a teacher I had in school but it was mostly just stringing a few chords together and that was that.

CASEY:  Tell me about your first band.

TOMMY:  It was a band at elementary school.  I don't remember what we called the band, something very juvenile, I'm sure.  The first "proper" band I had was also with musicians I went to school with who were a few years older than me.  It's hard to remember in detail but I think I must have been fourteen or fifteen when we first started.  It was hard rock influenced.  I still have the demo tapes we did.  Our drummer suggested the name Horticulture and that's what stuck for some reason. Horrible, horrible name!

CASEY: Tell me about Tommy And The Rockets.

 

TOMMY:  The idea to form a new band had been in my head for a while. I had been without a band for about two years and I was eager to get back into playing. I was going to call it Tommy And The Torpedoes initially.  One thing led to another and I soon hooked up with Michael Chaney who's a great lyricist.  We started tossing around ideas and he had a song he originally pitched to another band that I ended up having a crack at.  It just took off from there.  We ended up writing a whole album together, an album that initally meant to be just a single, then an EP but ended up being a full length album.  We also wrote an EP together.  Chaney brought in musicians to help like Brad marino from The Connection who played drums on those two releases and Kris Rodgers from The Dirty Gems who played all the keys.  Chaney and I stopped working together, though.  Let's just say we didn't see eye to eye.  Anyway, I've kept releasing stuff under the Tommy And The Rockets moniker with me playing most of the instruments and doing the bulk of the writing.  I've had guest musicians on some of the recordings but, in general, it's just me trying to do the best I can.  

CASEY:  What are your future plans?

TOMMY:  I want to put a full length album out and then focus on putting a band together. So, if there's anyone who's reading this who wants to be in a band with an old fart like me, don't hesitate to holler.

--Casey Redmond

Tommy And The Rockets Facebook Page

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King Uszniewicz & The Uszniewicztones: Teenage Dance Party

 

So, the story goes that back in the early seventies Cub Koda, the lead vocalist and guitar player for Brownsville Station, wandered into the Orbit Room cocktail lounge at the Brentwood Lanes  bowling alley in Detroit and witnessed one of the worst musical performances he had ever seen.  In the liner notes of this album Koda describes the experience this way; "Lame out of tune vocals delivered with third rate Elvis imitator enthusiasm...horrid two and three note guitar and sax solos...flagrant disregard for tempo or even remotely keeping their instruments in tune...every song in their repertoire being played in same monotonous key of E natural."  Ladies and Gentlemen we bring you, King Uszniewicz And The Uszniewicztones.

King Ernie Uszniewicz (pronounced, You-Sneb-Bitch) was a Detroit vocalist and tenor saxophonist who trolled the Detroit bar band scene back in the seventies. Ernie and his band, the Uszniewicztones (U-Tones for short), landed a five night a week gig at the Orbit Room where their auspicious meeting with Cub Koda resulted in a recording deal with his own 1-Shot record label.

They released a single (Surfin' School/Cry On My Shoulder) and recorded three albums (all produced by Cub himself) before it all fell apart at the end of the decade.

Teenage Dance Party is their first and perhaps best (worst?) album. King U and his right hand man, guitarist Logjam Lurch Patterson, lead the way as the band bludgeons its way through golden oldies like" Little Latin Lupe Lu", "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" and "Greenback Dollar". Highlights include covers of The Novas' "The Crusher" and The Broadside Brass Bed Band's ridiculous, "Little Dead Surfer Girl". Drunk, out of tune, out of control and fun best describes the contents of this album. 

Koda lost track of the band in 1979. Their gig at the Orbit Room ended when the bowling alley burned down and Ernie reportedly quit his day job (wrapping produce at a motor city IGA) and left town.

Was there really a band called King Uszniewicz & The Uszniewicztines? Some say it was all a hoax, perpetuated by Cub Koda himself and that Ernie and the U-Tones never really existed. Koda died in 2000, so we may never really know. I like to think they were a real Detroit area bowling alley band. And I like to think they're still out there somewhere. Maybe Ernie split to Florida and is playing  nursing homes and senior centers. Just enjoying the good life. Now that's a nice thought.

You can listen to the U-Tones blistering version of "The Crusher" HERE

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