R.I.P. Lemmy

Sad news friends.  

Pour one out for one of the greats.  Lemmy Kilmister died today.

Was it years of chain-smoking, ingesting bottomless Jack & Cokes with speed chasers, and wild sex parties with groupies that finally caught up to the Motorhead frontman?  Nope. 

Reportedly, it took some super aggressive form of Cancer to kill that fucker. 

Shitty way to end to 2015.

Godspeed to one cool mother...

Merry Christmas!

Few things say Merry Christmas like Christmas morning at the Davenports!

Hope Santa brought you everything you wanted!

And to all a good night!

Rick Danko - "Christmas Must Be Tonight" (1977)

Another one of our favorites!

This was recorded about a year after the "The Last Waltz" concert documenting The Band's last ever show.

Willie Nelson "Pretty Paper" (1979)

Hello Friends,

Happy First Day of Winter!

Enjoy this little ditty by Mr. Nelson, an all time holiday classic!

Hi-Fi Holidays: Christmas with the Platters

The Platters - "Christmas with The Platters" (1963) - Mercury Records

Hello Friends,

We've got one of the most successful vocal groups of all time helping on the turntable as we get busy wrapping our last few presents and getting the final decorations up on the tree!

This is a great, hip record from the R&B quintet who never sounded smoother!

There's bouncing, upbeat tunes like the great "Jingle Bell Jingle", "Santa Claus is Comin' To Town", the surf rock-ish "Blue Christmas" and the blistering Spector-inspired, "Jingle Bell Rock."

The record was produced by the legendary Buck Ram who handles the arrangements and gets songwriting credit on the nostalgic, "Come Home for Christmas". His influence as an arranger is felt throughout the album especially on the string-heavy "White Christmas" and "I'll be Home for Christmas".

As far as Platters' songs go "Christmas Time" is right up there with their classic, "Twilight Time" and "Silent Night" is heartfelt, sublime & so soulful it hurts.

The only real stinker on the record is the lispy and annoying novelty-song "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth".  Ugh... No Thanks!

RATING: 4 sister susie's sitting on a thistle out of 5

The Mattoid - "The Christmas Time" (2015)

Hello Friends,

Its Christmas Party Time with this crazed Finnish rock star.

If this song doesn't get you in the Holiday spirit, then you have no spirit my friends!

Subversive Lo-fi Holiday Deliciousness!

\M/

Joe Perry – "Run Run Rudolph" (2014)

Hello Friends,

It seems even the guitarist from Aerosmith is getting in on the Christmas game.

What's next? A novelty coffee line by the band's drummer?

link

Oh, oops!  

Kay Starr - "(Everybody's Waitin' For) The Man With The Bag" (1950)

Now this is more like it!

A little Kay Starr will really get the Christmas cocktails flowing!

(Although, listening to the lyrics, this song may be about waiting for your Christmas cocaine dealer to arrive!?!  Let it snow?)

Old Mr. Kringle is soon gonna jingle
The bells that'll tingle all your troubles away
Everybody's waiting for the man with the bag
'Cause Christmas is coming again

He's got a sleigh full, it's not gonna stay full
He's got stuff to drop at every stop of the way
Everybody's waiting for the man with the bag
'Cause Christmas is coming again

Hi-Fi Holidays: A Keely Christmas

Keely Smith - "A Keely Christmas" (1960) - Dot Records

Hello Friends,

A fun and fairly mellow offering from everyone's favorite Native American/Irish lounge singer.  Based on what we've heard from Keely Smith from her days with Louis Prima we were expecting a jumpin', jivin' and wailin' LP that really gets the party started. Instead we get thirteen songs-- all very pleasant-- but overall its a very saccharine, very middle-of-the-road affair!

With the exception of the ukulele-heavy "Christmas Island" and the medium-tempo closer "Blue Christmas" nothing really pops off the record player at you.  Come on Keely, you're puttin' us to sleep!

At times it reminds us a little of Ella Fitzgerald's Swinging Christmas LP from the same year which, unfortunately for Keely, is vastly superior.

Now don't get us wrong, not every record is a classic and A Keely Christmas its not a bad record by any stretch!  its just that we were hoping for some flaming rum punch and instead we got some room temperature Harvey's Bristol Cream!

RATING: 3.5 stockings hanging from a big ol' coconut tree out of 5

Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass - "Christmas Song" (1968)

This little gem can be found on Alpert's 1968 Christmas Album.

Surprisingly sweet & understated.

Handsome chap that Herb Alpert!

Hi-Fi Holidays: Christmas Album

Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass - "Christmas Album" (1968) - A&M Records

Hello Friends,

Wow!  What a great schmaltzy & swinging Christmas record by everyone's favorite Jewish, trumpet-playing Santa Claus!

Its like the soundtrack to a Holiday-themed wrap party on The Dating Game featuring plenty of Dubonnet on Ice (how nice!), Leisure Suits, mustaches, side burns and lambskin condoms where you're hoping like heck that the wet spot you just sat down in is someone's spilled cocktail and nothing more!

Oy Vey!

Ten tracks all performed in the TJB style featuring a hybrid of lite jazz and latin arrangements, weaving vocal choruses, zippy time changes and Herb Alpert's signature overly-accentuated trumpet playing.

For better or for worse, its unlike any other holiday record in our collection.

Songs like "Winter Wonderland", "Jingle Bells" & "Sleigh Ride" all begin with a melodramatic "whimper" and end with a spastic and bombastic bang.  Hold on to your sombreros, amigos!

"My Favorite Things" sounds like a mariachi mash-up of The Sound of Music and an early Bond film.

Herb even steps out from behind his trumpet to sing Mel Torme's "The Christmas Song" and Burt Bacharach's "The Bell That Wouldn't Ring".

We're not sure what it has to do with Christmas, but there's even a smooth as silk take on the traditional Mexican birthday song, "Las Mananitas".  ¿Porque no?

You can definitely slow dance to Alpert's dreamlike pacing on "Let It Snow" while looking forward to a striptease by the end of "Jingle Bell Rock" all to be lulled into a gentle and graceful sleep by the strains of Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring", the album's closer. Classic!

RATING: 4.5 chestnuts roasting on an open fire out of 5

The Darkness - "I Am Santa" (2015)

The Darkness are at it again with this rockingly festive 2015 single.

Best lyric of the song?  How does this sound...

Hungry, hungry for Yule
Yearning, winter is cruel (as is autumn)A picturesque December, all the children are at playAnd I don’t want no chestnuts or Ferrero Rocher

Awesome!

Hi-Fi Holidays: Merry Christmas Johnny Mathis

Johnny Mathis - "Merry Christmas" (1958) - Columbia Records

Hello Friends,

No doubt that this record was a mainstay on many suburban household hi-fi console systems in the late 1950's/early 1960's.  I'm pretty sure it was on constant rotation at my grandparents' house during the holidays.

There's really not much to not like about Johnny Mathis and this album features some fine velvety vocals and some lush, string-heavy arrangements courtesy of Percy Faith.

No real surprises on the record.  Twelve standard holiday selections with Side One containing more of the fun/secular tunes ("Winter Wonderland", "Sleigh Ride", "Blue Christmas", etc.) while leaving Side Two the more reflective/religious side.

"Winter Wonderland" would be a modest hit for Mathis.

The best thing about the record?  There's no "Twelve Days of Christmas" to be found! We're sort of done with that here at the Vinyl in the Valley HQ.

Also, we're pretty sure after a few highballs and a few listens of Mathis' sultry take on "A Christmas Song" and "I'll Be Home for Christmas" gramps would start to get a little handsy with nana!

RATING: 4 Holiday Highballs out of 5

Kenny Rogers & The First Edition - "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town" (1972)

T.G.I.F. Friends,

2015 is rapidly winding down and we're not only getting ready for the weekend but getting ready for Hi-Fi Holidays on Vinyl in the Valley.

This weekend we're planning on decorating the tiki bar, setting up the tree and mixing up some festive cocktails.  We'll be spinning a few classic records to help set the mood as well.

For some reason, this extremely sad Kenny Rogers tune seems appropriate for this drizzly December Friday.

Enjoy!

P.S. Nice Mullet Kenny!

Here I Come Again Now Baby, Like a Dog in Heat

Ted Nugent - "Ted Nugent" (1975) - Epic Records

Hello Friends,

We've got some vintage Nuge on the turntable tonight.

Ted Nugent is his first solo record (since disbanding The Amboy Dukes) and its a killer.

In addition to Nugent, the record features Derek St. Holmes on rhythm guitar & lead vocals, Rob Grange on bass & Cliff Davies on drums.

Side One is solid all the way through with the eight-minute epic opener, "Stranglehold" kicking things off in a super-aggressive fashion.  Its probably the most Nugenty of all of Ted Nugent's songs.

The criminally underrated and underplayed "Snakeskin Cowboys" kicks off the record's second side.

Great, straightforward and riff-heavy guitar work throughout.  Some catchy choruses and memorable solos to boot.  Politics aside, this album will rock your face off.  Close the curtains, dim the lights and play it loud (while cleaning your guns!)

RATING: 4.5 Tickets to the Gun Show out of 5

#where's_blitzen?

 

Dead Lord - "When History Repeats Itself" (2015)

Good tune and great video!

Sounds like Swedish Thin Lizzy.

From their 2015 release, Heads Held High.

This is the day of the expanding man...

Steely Dan - "Aja" (1977) - ABC Records

Hello Friends,

We're chilling out on this cool November evening with some strong red wine and some Steelies on the turntable.

Steely Dan's sixth album is also probably their best album and its biggest claim to fame is being the "go to" record for audiophiles in the late 70's & early 80's for testing/showing off their Hi Fi systems.

(Personally, I think this was just a ploy to lure a young lady back to your apartment to "hear your sound system"... the 70's were so f'ing creepy!)

Seven songs in Steely's signature soft-rock/jazz style.  "Black Cow", "Aja" & "Deacon Blues" on Side One; Side Two is home to "Peg", "Home at Last", "I Got The News" & "Josie".

Sonically, the album does bring you back to a certain time and place: a dark-lit, late 70's love den, a whiff of incense, a hanging tapestry painted with a stalking puma and a box of Chinese medicine balls sitting atop a coffee table.

Lyrically, its literally insane what these guys were able to get away with:

Learn to work the saxophone
I'll play just what I feel
Drink Scotch Whisky all night long
And die behind wheel
They got a name for the winners in the world
I want a name when I lose
They call Alabama the Crimson Tide
Call me Deacon Blues

Wow!

RATING: 4 chinese music under banyan trees here at the dude ranch above the sea out of 5

Eagles of Death Metal - "Complexity" (2015)

Hello Friends,

Great new song by the Palm Desert California band, Eagles of Death Metal.

Last week, EODM were at the center of International attention when ISIS terrorists attacked the Parisian nightclub Le Bataclan while the band headlined.

89 concert goers and music fans were killed with many more injured.  Among the dead was 26 year old Nick Alexander, who was working the merch table for band's European tour.

Sad.  And fucked up.

It just goes to show you that in a single moment you can go from having the night of your life enjoying a rock & roll show in one of the world's great cities to an absolute fucking nightmare for reasons as random, unwarranted and illogical as deluded religious fervor fueled by anger, violence, envy & fear.

Rhett Miller - "Most in the Summertime" (2015)

Hello Friends,

Here's some new stuff by Old 97's frontman and resident hunk, Rhett Miller.

The temperature outside is dropping so some Summer lovin' seems pretty good right about now!

Winter is coming and there'll be no picnics on blankets waiting for the sun to go down for quite a few months!

Don't give up on me, friends, don't give up on me!

Dictators - "The Next Big Thing" (1977)

T.G.I.F Friends,

Here's some classic Dictators to help put you in the mood for the weekend!

Handsome Dick is still our favorite Dick!

Roky Erickson - "Bloody Hammer" - Live Rockpalast 2010

Hello Friends,

Another Halloween has come and gone and we're left with the damp, drizzly Novembers of the soul.

Good thing we still have Roky Erickson to help us through our Halloween hangovers!

Enjoy!

The Evil One

Roky Erickson and the Aliens - "The Evil One" (1981) -  Light in the Attic Records

Hello Friends,

Tonight we're sipping some cocktails and listening to a three-sided record featuring Two Headed Dogs and Fire Demons courtesy of one of rock's most legendary troubled souls, Roky Erickson.

The Evil One, released in 1981, contains 15 songs over 3 record sides and the 4th side is left blank, but with an etching of Two Headed Dog in place of grooves(!).  Every single song is fucking great!  Straightforward, economical rock & roll with Roky's growling, bluesy vocals and paranoid, horror-inspired lyrics.  

Its like if Little Richard was possessed by Baphomet and had the original Alice Cooper Band playing back up.

This record marks the great Roky Erickson's return to the fold since The 13th Floor Elevators disbanded and he spent much of the 70's in and out of mental institutions.

The result is an undersung and undisputed classic.  

The song title alone are worth the price of admission.  They read like a catalog of Classic B Horror flicks!

Two Headed Dog
I Walked With A Zombie
Night Of The Vampire
It's A Cold Night For Alligators
Mine Mine Mind
Sputnik
White Faces
I Think Of Demons
Creature With The Atom Brain
The Wind And More
Don't Shake Me Lucifer
Bloody Hammer
Stand For The Fire Demon
Click Your Fingers
If You Have Ghosts

Again, every single song is good.  Every single song rocks.  Great, disturbing lyrics with passionate, disturbed vocals and good ol' fashioned raucous rock roll to back it all up!

Fun Fact: Hey kids, this record was produced by Stu Cook, former bassist of Creedence Clearwater Revival.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

RATING: 5 demons up in the attic to the left out of 5