R.E.M. - Nightswimming

End of summer song! 

The Gaslight Anthem - "45"

And all my friends say, 
"Hey hey, turn the record over.
Hey hey, and I'll see you on the flip side.
There you go, turn the key and engine over.
Let her go, let somebody else lay at her feet."

Any Old Time

Artie Shaw & his Orchestra - "Any Old Time" (1958) - RCA Victor

Hello friends,

Tonight on the turntable we've got Jazz's favorite introvert, Artie Shaw.

This compilation, released in 1958, contains tracks recorded between 1938 & 1945 and was released four years after Shaw permanently retired from music.  RCA's Down Beat Jazz Milestone series are pretty good compilations that usually contain 22 to 24 minutes of music per album side.

Hailing from New Haven, Connecticut, Artie Shaw (born Arthur Jacob Arshawsky) was one of the Big Band Era's most famous bandleaders.  Known as the "King of Clarinet", he was an introvert and perfectionist; sort of the thinking man's Benny Goodman.  He died in 2004 after spending many years self-exiled in Europe and a small fortune in divorce court. Shaw was married 8 times, including to the actresses, Lana Turner & the future Mrs. Sinatra, Ava Gardner!  ("Hey Frank! How's my dick taste?")

The LP's titular tune features Billie Holiday on lead vocals.  Shaw was one of the first white bandleaders to hire a black lead vocalist to tour with him!  Good for him!  



Other great tracks include "It Had to Be You", "All I Remember Is You" (featuring Helen Forrest on vocals), "St. James Infirmary" (featuring "Hot Lips" Page on vocals), "These Foolish Things Remind Me of You", "Love Me A Little" (featuring Lena Horne), and the outstanding, nine-minute, "Concerto for Clarinet."

RATING: 4.5 Guess Who's Not Fun at Parties out of 5  

Happy Birthday Hawaii

Ray Kinney and his Coral Islanders - "Hawaiian Favorites" (1957) - RCA Camden

Aloha Friends,

We're celebrating Hawaii's birthday tonight!  It was on August 21, 1959 that the Hawaiian islands officially became our 50th State!  So grab a hula girl, a stiff drink in a pineapple and let's get lei'd!

To celebrate, we're coming to you tonight from the Hawai'i Room in New York City's Lexington Hotel featuring the swooning, exotic island sounds of Hawaiian-born Ray Kinney and his orchestra. (Not really... this place stopped existing in 1966 but we're pretty loaded on rum and nostalgia tonight!)

Singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist, Ray Kinney had a career that lasted over 57 years, mostly specializing in Hawaiian music.  This late 50's entry, contains a lot of the standard Hawaiian music that he created throughout his career.   The Hawaiian boy with an Irish Name!

Here are some pretty cool-looking menus and photos from NYC's Lexington Hotel!

RATING: 4 Okoolehao Slings out of 5

This One's For Pinky Tuscadero

Various Artists - "Fonzie Favorites" (1976)

Aaaayyyyyyy Friends!

Step into my office and order yourself a malted because tonight on Vinyl in the Valley we're listening to Fonzie's favorites on the ol' turntable.  And its coooooool!

People might forget how huge "Happy Days" was in the late 70's.  Amongst all of the merchandising inspired by the show was this little treasure of an LP containing over 20 tracks of early rock standards like "Splish Splash", "Barbara Ann", "Charlie Brown", "I Only Have Eyes for You", "Great Balls of Fire", "In the Still of the Night" and, of course, "The Happy Days Theme Song".  As the liner notes state:  "No!!! The Fonz has not taken to singing on this album.  Better!!! He has chosen favorite 50's records to share with you."  

Fonzie gives this album
"Two Thumbs Up!"
(Potsie could not be reached for comment!)

There's even a cardboard fold out on the back cover so you can stand the album upright while listening to it!  Its like the Fonz is right there in your living room!

One of the LP's "novelty" tracks, "The Fonzarelli Slide" contains speaking parts from Happy Days characters interacting with characters from "Laverne & Shirley" and "Welcome Back, Kotter."   This is pretty amazing because (a) the voices are clearly not those of the original actors and, in fact, are poorly imitated, and (b) not to nitpick but these fictional characters existed in different decades and thousands of miles apart so chances are there's no way Fonzie could have been been the "new leader of the Sweathogs!" 

Which reminds me, let's all pour out a little malted in remembrance of actor Ron Palillo ("Horshack") who passed away this week!

RATING: 3.5 Ralph Malphs out of 5

Alternate Titles for this post: 
"Sit On It!"
"Fonzie Schemes"
"Jumping the Shark"
"Exactamundo"
"Wisconsin Cheese"
"Where's Chachi"

Prog Rock Saturday: Brain Salad Surgery

Emerson, Lake & Palmer - "Brain Salad Surgery" (1973)

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends... Vinyl in the Valley!

From the H.R. Giger designed album artwork to the prog rock opus contained in its grooves, Brain Salad Surgery is the quintessential prog album of the Seventies. 

Side One begins with ELP's take on the hymn, "Jerusalem" (based on a William Blake poem).  Its churchy-sounding and although it was banned by the BBC for being "degrading" to the traditional English hymn, its anything but sacrilegious.  The instrumental "Toccata" follows.  Its based on a Piano concerto by Argentine composer, Alberto Ginastera, and features some pretty weird-sounding synthesizer and drum effects.  Basically, its spazzy, unnerving and like much of their work, show-offy. 

Next up is "Still... You Turn Me On", a pretty acoustic song featuring some fine Greg Lake fingerpicking and vocals.  Best lyric: "Everyday a little sadder / a little madder / Someone get me a ladder!"

"Benny The Bouncer" is atrocious and Side One concludes with the First Movement of the 30 minute futuristic suite, "Karn Evil 9".  Yowsa!

Side Two picks up where Side One left off with the more familiar, "Karn Evil 9, First Impression, part 2" ("Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends...") and for the next 22 minutes the entire album side is a journey into the deep bowels of progressive rock!  Lots of sci-fi sounding keyboards and lots of drumming in weird time signatures courtesy of Carl Palmer.  The song is seemingly about some futuristic, dystopian carnival.  However, by the Third Impression there seems to be some sort of man versus computer war going on.  Its all really confusing and I got a headache listening to this!       

It can be said that Keith Emerson did for keyboards in the 1970's what Jimi Hendrix did for guitar in the late 1960's.  The sounds coming from the Emerson's fingertips are precise, bombastic & otherworldly.  The thing is keyboards aren't as exciting as guitars.  They're TOO mechanical; really show-offy and not very sexy.  Back in the day, no one was getting laid listening to this album!

Which reminds me of this fun fact: Did you know the phrase "Brain Salad Surgery" is code for "Oral Sex"?  Its true!  Look it up!

RATING: 3.5 Pictures at an Exhibition out of 5

I Wanna Be Sedated

Jackie Gleason - "Opiate d'Amour" (1960) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

Back in an earlier post, we compared a Jackie Gleason record to taking Nyquil.  That was nothing! As the title implies, this LP is literally like being on some strong, strong opiates!  This is mood music for heavy eyelids.  Sleepy and sedate, but in the best possible ways!

As the liner notes state, 

Into this intensely romantic album, Jackie Gleason has decanted a tranquilizing potion as dreamily hypnotic as a warm breeze caressing a field of poppies.

Whoa!  They ain't kidding!  Pass the morphine!

Here the songs flow into one another, calmly and uninterrupted, like a lazy river.  Each album side is a medley of sorts with no pauses between songs.  Not sure if this is the first time something like this was being done on a non-classical LP?  Anyone?  

The songs feature more of those lush & laid back string arrangements punctuated by brass sections that sound as if they're playing inside a fog!  Side One is an ethereal sixteen minutes of some of the best "mood" music you're ever likely to hear!  However, if this keeps up we're probably gonna nod off before this record's even done!  

Side Two opens with "Melancholy Serenade"-- a Gleason original that is also more famously known as the theme to "The Jackie Gleason Show".  This lithely segues into the Jerome Kern standard, "Yesterdays" which in turn floats into another... zzz...  zzz... zzz... zzz... zzz... zzz...

RATING: 4 poppy fields out of 5        

Welcome to the "In" Crowd

The Ramsey Lewis Trio - "The In Crowd" (1965) - Cadet

Hello friends,

Imagine for a second that its May 1965 and you're out carousing in our Nation's capital.  You and your girl are few drinks in when you stumble upon the Bohemian Caverns, a dark, basement nightclub on 11th Street.  You hear the strains of live jazz music seeping into street and you decide to pop in for a nightcap (or two.)

Inside is a crowd of mostly young people engulfed a low cloud of thick smoke.  On stage are three black guys: Eldee Young on upright bass, Red Holt on drum kit and Mr. Ramsey Lewis on the black & whites.  Alright, you think to yourself, this is The Ramsey Lewis trio that's been all the talk around these parts.  

What you didn't realize is tonight's concert would turn out to be an historical one as their performance was being committed to tape and would soon be released as an LP entitled, "The In Crowd".  This album would become a jazz classic, popularizing the rhythm & bluesy title track into a chart-topping standard.  Other cuts like "Since I Fell For You", "You've Been Talkin' 'Bout Me Baby" and Duke Ellington's "Come Sunday" capture Ramsey Lewis and his virtuoso rhythm section their absolute live best.      

You take your seats, order some drinks and your date smiles and looks at you approvingly.  You're in the "In Crowd" tonight for sure! (wink, wink)

RATING: 4.5 dark, smoke-filled nightclubs out of 5 

Sitting in the stand of the sports arena, waiting for the show to begin...

Wings - "Venus & Mars" (1975) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

We've got a bit of British Fever with the 2012 Olympics going on in London right now, so we're drinking warm pints and playing darts while listening to a little Wings on the turntable tonight!

Recorded in New Orleans, Venus & Mars is the fourth album by Wings.  Its not as good as its predecessor-- Band on the Run-- but much better than its follow-up-- Wings at the Speed of Sound. 

Setting the mood is the lo-fi opener, "Venus & Mars"; an acoustic, minute-long song about the anticipation in the audience before a rock concert begins.  This blends right into the raucous and aptly-titled "Rock Show" (best lyric: "It looks a lot like the one used by Jimmy Page / It's like a relic from a different age").      

Next up is the pretty-- and criminally underrated-- ballad, "Love in Song" featuring some fantastic McCartney melodies.  This might be the best song on the entire album! 

"You Gave Me the Answer" is an old-timey, show tuney-thing and "Magneto & Titanium Man" is a fun tribute to some of McCartney's favorite Marvel comic characters.  Side One ends with the bluesy, soulful "Letting Go", featuring some very New Orleans-style horns.  

Side Two starts out a little on the proggy-side of things.  There's a reprise of "Venus & Mars", except this time the lyrics are about boarding a starship and going away on a "strange vacation."  Sticking with the prog-inspired theme, next up is "Spirits of Ancient Egypt" with ex-Moody Blue, Denny Laine, on lead vocals. 

Venus & Mars is the first Wings album to feature British guitarist, Jimmy McCulloch.  Not only does he contribute some great bluesy leads, but he writes and sings the drug-addled, "Medicine Jar" (Sample lyric: There's more to life than blues and reds / I know how you feel, now your friends are dead.)  McCulloch sounds like a cross between John Lennon & Ace Frehley;  it sort of makes me wish that he and McCartney collaborated on more tunes together!  (McCulloch would die of a Heroin overdose in '79.)

Paul is back on lead vocals for "Call Me Back Again"-- an incredibly soulful tune that features some of McCartney's strongest vocals since his days as a Beatle.  What a showstopper!   

Oh Darling! If the album had only ended there it would near perfect!  Instead, the over-produced, slick-sounding hit "Listen to What the Man Said" sticks out like a sore thumb.  If I wasn't drunk right now, I'd pick the needle up and skip right over this song!  Enough with the sax solo!

The album ends on a nice, redeeming nostalgic note with "Treat Her Gently/Lonely Old People".  Venus and Mars are alright tonight, indeed!

RATING: 4.5 glasses of strawberry wine* out of 5

(* yuck!) 

click thru for the first three songs from Wings 1976 concert film, Rockshow...

Fleetwood Mac Attack

Fleetwood Mac - "Greatest Hits" (1971) - CBS

Hello Friends,

Are you ready to hear some "Landslide"?  What about "Go Your Own Way", "The Chain", or "Rhiannon"?  How about some (gulp) "Little Lies"?

Well, if so, you've come to the wrong place!  On tonight's "Vinyl in the Valley" we're listening to Fleetwood Mac's Greatest Hits-- greatest "hits" before they became super successful megastars of the late 70's.   And this stuff rocks!

Fleetwood Mac started out as a British blues band in the late 1960's and this compilation LP captures some of their best bluesy & psychedelic tunes from 1968 to 1971.  Fronted by guitarist, songwriter & vocalist, Peter Green, the early Fleetwood Mac was in the same league as late-period Yardbirds or bands like Ten Years After.  Just listen to the opener, "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" and you'll see that this band couldn't be more different that the Lindsey Buckingham-Stevie Nicks version of the band!



Founding & perennial members, drummer Mick Fleetwood & bassist John McVie are present here; as is a piano-playing Christine McVie on a song or two.  But by 1970-- due in part to the large amounts of LSD he was taking--  Peter Green would leave the band, find religion and basically drop out of the rock'n'roll life for a while.  He would later be diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, undergo multiple ESTs and spend much of the decade in and out of psychiatric hospitals!  Sounds like a party!!     

Also included on this LP are great forgotten classics like the incomparable "Oh Well", "Shake Your Moneymaker" (by Elmore James), "Need Your Love So Bad" (by Little Willie John), "Rattlesnake Shake", the heartbreaking "Man of the World" and the original version of "Black Magic Woman", which was covered by Santana in 1970.  (The Santana version is a bit "smoother" sounding, but we definitely prefer The Mac's original!)

Here's a clip of the band performing their instrumental, "Albatross", in 1970.  Supposedly, John Lennon has said this song influenced his song "Sun King" from Abbey Road...

RATING: 4.5 Green Manalishis with the Two Prong Crowns out of 5