Rock 'n' Roll Animal

Lou Reed - "Rock & Roll Animal" (1974) & "Lou Reed Live" (1975) - RCA Victor

Hello Friends,

We've got a Lou Reed twofer going on tonight!

Rock & Roll Animal and Lou Reed Live are two albums from the height of Lou Reed's glam rock phase.  Guitar-heavy live versions of some Velvet Underground classics ("Heroin", "White Light/White Heat", "I'm Waiting For the Man") as well some solo stuff from the Bowie-produced Transformer and the uber-depressing Berlin. 

Both albums were actually recorded at the same gig at Howard Stein's Academy of Music (which later became the Palladium) in New York City in December 1973.  

Why they just didn't release the entire set as a double album will remain a mystery!

"Aaah... Me Like Lou Reed"

With only 11 songs between the two albums, Reed's lyrics take a back seat to some more complex arrangements and some heavy extended jams.  (Guitarist's Dick Wagner & Steve Hunter would eventually join Alice Cooper's band.)  You can even fool your hipster friends by putting on the first song on Rock & Roll Animal (an instrumental that leads into "Sweet Jane") and have them guess as to who it is.  We're betting you'll get more guesses for Zappa, Pink Floyd or even the Dead than you will for Sir Lou. 

Shine a light on love, indeed!

RATING (both albums): 4 Jim-Jims in this Town out of 5

Pebbles Volume 10

Pebbles, volume 10 (1980) - BFD Records 

Hello Friends,

Tiki T. and I have recently started collecting the Pebbles LP series courtesy of the BFD & AIP Record labels.  Awesome compilation records, first released in the late 70's, subtitled as "Artyfacts from the First Punk Era".  

They're a good companion to the more popular NUGGETS series-- records filled with 2 or 3 minute punk masterpieces mostly from the years of 1966 thru 1969.  Bands consisting of pimply-faced kids in basements and garages scattered throughout the country.  Some bands (and band members) would go on to bigger and better things, but most would only end up playing local teen centers, VFW Halls, dive bars and local college radio stations.  Only a few would be fortunate enough to open for a touring national act like Herman's Hermits, The Jefferson Airplane or The Animals.  A handful would be fortunate to record a 7" or two and then call it a day fading off into rock & roll obscurity.  

One-Hit and No-Hit Wonders. Footnotes in the Rock & Roll History Books.

Some of the greatest rock and roll songs ever written may have only been heard by a handful of ears. These records provide a time capsule into an honest and less-cynical past.  Behind every band, there's a story; some are triumphant; some are tragic; many are uneventful... but who doesn't love a good rock & roll story?    

Tonight we're starting with Volume 10, on yellow-colored vinyl, with a sexy go-go brunette on the cover!  Sixteen tracks that are pure garage rock gems!    

Side One
1. "Talk To Me Girl" - The Next Five.  Holy shit, is this a Who outtake from the Who Sell Out era?  Amazing song from Texas garage band!  Ned's Pick for best song on the record!

2. "You'll Come Back" - The Moon Rakers.  Great Kinks-influenced, garage punk from Colorado. Members of this band would go on to become Sugarloaf (unfortunately).

3. "Baby What's New" - Peter Wheat & The Breadmen.  Shitty band name but great song with some great guitar work from this San Francisco garage band whose biggest claim to fame is that they almost opened for The Beatles at their legendary (and final) Candlestick Park concert.

4. "Since I Met You" - The Marauders.  More garage rock from San Francisco.  We dig the out-of-tune piano.

5. "Roller Coaster" - The Ides of March.  Great song from Chicago garage band!  Hard to believe its the same band that did the wretched, horn-laden "Vehicle" in 1970.

6. "Need A Little Lovin'" - The Foggy Notions. Some obscure punk via 1966 Chicago.  

7. "Just In Case You're Wondering" - The Ugly Ducklings.  Toronto's premier 5-piece garage rock band.

8. "My Group and Me" - Raga and the Talas.  Side One concludes with this rockin' & psychedelic tune penned by Miss Jackie DeShannon.  Her brother, Randy Myers, fronted this band-- which by all accounts was nothing more than a 1966 L.A. studio project.  This song is Tiki's pick for best on the album!  Good pick Tiki!

Side Two
1. "Tilt-a-Whirl" - Leo & the Prophets.  More fuzz-toned Texas punk, this time from Austin.  The band only released one 45 rpm and this song was the A-side.

2. "Love at Psychedelic Velocity" - The Human Expression.  Some nice fast-slow-fast-slow low budget garage rock (with indecipherable vocals) from Los Angeles.  Slightly reminiscent of Roky Erikson's 13th Floor Elevators.

3. "I'm On My Way Down the Road" - The Wig/Wags.  Great blue-eyed soul track!  (If you told me it was Alex Chilton singing,  I would believe it!)  Most likely from Hope, Arkansas. 

4. "Train Kept A Rollin" - Steve Walker and the Bold.  Raucous cover tune from a band of which little is know.  This speedy version gives the Yardbirds a run for their money!

5. "I'm Not Talkin" - Things to Come.  From Chicago and speaking of the Yardbirds... 

6. "Slippin' and Slidin" - The Five Americans.  Probably the most "famous" band on this compilation.  Known for their 60's pop hit "Western Union", we prefer this nerve-shattering cover of a Little Richard tune from this Dallas, Texas (via Durant, Oklahoma) quintet.  

7. "Primitive" - The Groupies.  Swampy, sleazy garage rock... just like we like it!  From New York City, of course.  Self-described as "Lower East Side Scum" and we'll gladly drink to that!  (Fun Fact: Wilco's Jeff Tweedy's first band "The Primitives" took their name from this here song!)

8. "Don't Shoot Me Down" - The Brogues.  From Merced, California.  This was the B-side to their slightly more well-known recording of the garage standard, "(I Ain't No) Miracle Worker".  Drummer Greg Elmore eventually joined the San Fran-based, Quicksilver Messenger Service. 

RATING: 4.5 Things That I Do That You'll Never Try out of 5
     

Spring Is Here Again

The Beach Boys - "Concert" (1964) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends and Happy Spring!

Its been a long, cold, lonely Winter and we're getting ready for some longer days, warmer nights and colder drinks!  HALLE-FUCKING-LUJAH!!!

Tonight we've got The Beach Boys first # 1 LP-- and first "live" album-- on the turntable.  Hopefully it helps us melt some snow off the tiki bar! 

(We say "live" because we suspect there's a fair amount of overdubbing and roller coaster-style crowd noise included as enhancements, but who are we to bicker?)

Its a great, fun live set with their harmonies and instruments sounding in fine form.  The album would mark one of the last live performances that Brian Wilson would play with the group as he would go cuckoo-bananas shortly thereafter and concentrate more on songwriting and production. He does a great job singing his ballad, "In My Room"-- which, in hindsight, ends up being sadly prophetic.

In addition to "In My Room", they perform their early classics, "Fun, Fun, Fun", "Little Deuce Coupe", "Hawaii" and "I Get Around".  They cover Dick Dale's seminal surf-instrumental, "Let's Go Trippin", Jan & Dean's "Little Old Lady From Pasadena", The Rivington's "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow", The Four Freshmen's "Graduation Day", Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" and Dennis Wilson sings a great version of Dion's "The Wanderer".

And holy crap, they do "The Monster Mash"!

Thanks to Shelby & Bobby for finding this for us!

RATING: 4.5 Worlds Where I Can Go And Tell My Secrets To out of 5

The Fool On Every Corner

Mike Cooley - "The Fool On Every Corner" (2012) - Cooley Records

Hello Friends,

As a founding member of The Drive-By Truckers, Mike Cooley writes songs about men (and women) of few words with hard lives, drinking problems and Daddy issues.  With characters who mask their insecurities with tough exteriors and self-imposed loneliness, his songs are more like short stories in a Southern vein told in Cooley's gravelly tenor.  Its all pretty much summed up in a lyric from the song, "Marry Me":  

Rock & Roll Means Well, But It Can't Help Tellin' Young Boys Lies

What's not to love?

This LP contains a live, solo acoustic set of Cooley-penned Drive-By Truckers' songs.  Bare-bones style.  There's also a tongue-in-cheek cover of Charlie Rich's "Behind Closed Doors". Good setlist overall, good sound quality.  A must own for any Truckers or Cooley-fan, might be a bit of a tough sell for those unfamiliar!

And remember, you can't spell Cooley without cool!

RATING: 4 Rotgut Moonshines Making Me Sick out of 5

Happy Birthday Jack Kerouac!

The Tijuana Quencher

While the title of this recipe might sound like something you look for in the kinky back pages of The New Haven Advocate, it is actually a refreshing and puckery little number, perfect for accompanying some Latin jazz on the turntable. We take a regular margarita and jack it up with some freshly squeezed juices. You'll feel it in your forearms after prepping for this one! Aye yai yai!


First, squeeze some oranges and some limes to make your mixing juices. Set aside. In a shaker, pour a couple of shots of Sauza, ice, cranberry juice, and just a couple drops of triple sec. You can make this as boozy or sweet as you deem fit (obviously, we know how Tiki weighs in on that one!). Add your fresh juices and shake with vigor. Pour into dainty margarita glasses rimmed with salt and lime wheels. This drink got high marks at the Tiki Bar last week. What we most enjoyed was that it drank more like a classy tequila cocktail rather than a trashy 'rita from your local Chi-Chi's Restaurant. Hope you like it as much as we did.
XO!
Tiki T.

Rusty Trumpet

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass - "What Now My Love" (1966) - A&M Records

Hello Friends,

Herb Alpert's "magic trumpet" is making another appearance on Vinyl in the Valley tonight.

What Now My Love is Herb's sixth album with the Tijuana Brass and its more of the same Ameriachi-style jazz-inspired lounge muzak.  Great music to mix up a batch of margaritas to while waiting for your special lady to come over.  

So spray that cologne on heavy and tie up that bolo because tonight you're either getting lucky or hosting a Spanish game show!

Fun Fact: The puckery brunette on the cover is Mrs. Sandra Moss, wife of Jerry Moss, Herb's partner at A & M records.  Wonder if things ever got awkward?

RATING: 3.5 Memories of Madrid out of 5

R.I.P. Alvin Lee (1944 - 2013)

More Than Meets the Eye

Lou Reed - "Transformer" (1972) - RCA

Hello Friends,

Holy shit kids, Lou Reed turned 71 this weekend!  How the fuck did he get to live this long?  I think my grandparents are younger than him!  Seriously though, good for him.  A steady diet of uppers, downers, junk, promiscuity, peroxide, rock & roll and shock treatment can do wonders, I guess!

To celebrate his birthday we're listening to his second (and arguably best) solo album, Transformer.

Classic fucking record.  

With songs like "Vicious", "Satellite of Love", "I'm So Free" and "Walk on the Wild Side", it plays like a classic FM rock record, but with not-so-subtle lyrics about drug use, drag queens, blow jobs, sexual ambiguity and violence, its quite a bit darker than anything by Bad Company, for instance.  

And the colored girls go...

Recorded in England and produced and arranged by glam rock gods David Bowie & Mick Ronson (who were at the height of their 'Spiders From Mars' incarnation), the album is fuller sounding than anything Reed did with the Velvet Underground or that would appear on his subsequent solo albums like the utterly depressing Berlin or the slicker, Sally Can't Dance, or the feedback and noise opus, Metal Machine Music.

And who could forget the song, "Perfect Day"?  A minimalist, nostalgic ode to a good day in the life of Lou Reed, who is always aware of the other shoe getting ready to drop:  "You're going to reap just what you sow..."

Its also the best scene in the movie, Trainspotting.
    

  
RATING: 5 Shine A Light On Loves out of 5 

Happy Birthday Lou Reed!