Its a Vinyl in the Valley Christmas!

Ho Ho Ho Friends!

Hang that mistletoe, spike that egg nog and get your Yule Logs ready because we're firing up some Holiday Cheer Vinyl in the Valley-style!

We're counting down the days to Xmas with some vintage LP's, some tasty cocktails and some sexy Christmas cheesecake!

Hope your tree is trimmed and halls are decked because its about to get FESTIVE around here!

Roasting Chestnuts, indeed!

Special!

As a kid, this sound clip was the most exciting five-seconds in my young, dopey life.

It meant some exciting shit was about to go down!

Happy Birthday Tom Waits!

Happy Pearl Harbor Day!

And Happy Birthday Tom Waits!

Blue Cheer!

Blue Cheer - "Vincebus Eruptum" (1968) - Philips 

Hello Friends,

Tiki T. and I picked this record up at a used record shop while we took a break from Holiday shopping!  And what a find this is!

Nothing takes your mind off the annoying holiday crowds like some good, old-fashioned drug-inspired psychedelic blues.  Some even credit this power trio from San Francisco as the progenitors of Heavy Metal.  Who are we to argue?  Their grungey, head-banging version of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" makes The Who's version seem tame by comparison... and that's saying A LOT!

Influenced by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Dickie Peterson (vox, bass), Leigh Stephens (guitar) & Paul Whaley (drums) formed Blue Cheer in 1967.    Their first single, "Summertime Blues" would be a Top 20 single and their debut album, Vincebus Eruptum, would be a Top 20 album.  The record is loud and bluesy with thumping drum and thudding bass-lines like a less-talented, but angrier version of Cream.

Fun Fact: Hey kids, did you know that the band Blue Cheer got their name from a street brand of LSD going around San Francisco in the late 1960's?  Groovy!

RATING: 4.5 Parchment Farms out of 5

UPDATE: You know that scene in "Back to the Future" where Marty McFly is back in the 50's and he needs to convince his father that he's from outer space and he puts walkman headphones on him and blasts some Van Halen on his unsuspecting ears?  This is what I imagine this album sounded like to unsuspecting ears in 1968!  

RIP Dave Brubeck

Dave Brubeck (Dec 6, 1920 - Dec 5, 2012)

one day shy of his 92nd birthday!

The Rum Diaries: KRAKEN

Hello friends,

Going back and forth from the tiki bar to the turntable all night long really makes you work up a mean, mean thirst!  

Tonight we're taking a break from record reviews and instead we're focusing our attention on one of the world's most delicious (and misunderstood) libations-- RUM.

Described by Marco Polo in the 14th Century as "very good wine made of sugar", the history of rum is as interesting and complex as the drink itself.  The story of Rum is the story of slavery, of pirates, of Navies, of the New World, of exploration, colonization, capitalism, rebellion and of course, hot, drunk college girls on Spring Break!  

YO HO HO, indeed!

KRAKEN BLACK SPICED RUM

Distiller: Kraken Rum Company
Country: USA (Lawrenceburg, IN)

Cost: $24.00 
Proof: 94
Size: 750 ml

Description: Imported Caribbean Rums blended with Spice, Caramel and various other flavorings.

Ned Tugent says: "Surprisingly good, ink-black, spiced rum with hints of blackberry and licorice. Grade: B"

Tiki T says: "A pleasant aroma of cream soda.  Notes of cane sugar and molasses from start to finish.  Nice, warm ending but a little too sweet for me! Grade: C+"

A big part of the fun of Kraken Rum is their packaging and marketing. Usually anything with this elaborate of an ad campaign is more about image than it is about quality, but that's not really the case here!  Kraken is a good, albeit, unusual rum.  Not as versatile, perhaps, as some others but will handily replace Goslings in a "Dark & Stormy" and would enhance a mug of hot cider rather nicely!  (Tiki T. would like to warn of a monster hangover that might accompany the latter!)

Check out their website, its a fun one! 

Enjoy!

A Barely Pink Drink

Tricked you, friends!

No, that's not Tiki T. in the picture below, but the incomparable Patty Duke from her volatile role as Neely O'Hara in Valley of the Dolls. Undoubtedly you'll be wanting to wet your whistle while watching this full-chested flick, and Tiki T. has got the cure!

I'd like to start on this one about 24 hours ahead of time. Infuse some (cheap) vodka with a chamomile tea bag for a nice infusion. Take that bag out sooner than later! Or you'll end up with vodka as bitter as an aging Broadway actress (check the movie for that reference).

Pour chamomile vodka into a shaker with some pink grapefruit juice and a little elderberry liquor (Saint Germain http://www.stgermain.fr/ is a good one, pretty bottle too!).

Shake vigorously with ice and serve up. We found this naughty little number at the Barcelona restaurant in New Haven, Connecticut. Gracias!

So enjoy the kick off to the holidays, enjoy your drink and enjoy Sharon Tate's assets. The night looks promising!

XO!
Tiki T.

Vinyl in the Valley of the Dolls

"Valley of the Dolls" Soundtrack (1967) - 20th Century Fox Records

Hello Friends,

Things are getting campy tonight on Vinyl in the Valley! 

The 1967 film version of Jacqueline Susann's 1966 best-selling novel stars an adorable 
Barbara Parkins, an all-grown-up Patty Duke, and a so-sexy-it-hurts Sharon Tate as young, nubile ingenues trying to act/marry/claw/drink/screw their way to the top!


The titular "Dolls" don't just refer to this trio of starlets but to the copious amounts of colorful little pills that they wash down in order to cope with their melodramatic lives!        

As the opening lines of the film and record reminds us: "You've got to climb Mount Everest to reach the Valley of the Dolls!"  You said it sister! 

The music on the LP (with songs written by Andre Previn) is soft and sublime and provides an almost delusional counterpoint to the manic and over-the-top melodrama going on in the movie.

Fun Fact # 1: Judy Garland was originally cast in the film but was fired because of her substance problems!  Though she did keep her character's sequined pantsuit and wore it on tour!  

Fun Fact # 2: The first of many, many Oscar nominations for composer, John Williams.  (It would be the only Oscar nod the film would receive!)

Fun Fact # 3: Dionne Warwick sang the title song in the original movie but, due to contractual obligations, could not appear on the soundtrack record.  Dory Previn, wife of Andre Previn, recorded the version for the record!

Fun Fact # 4: Raquel Welch was originally offered the role that went to Sharon Tate.  A year after this movie, Tate would marry Italian-child molester-director, Roman Polanski.  A year after that she would have a starring role in the Manson Murders!  And, scene...
  RATING: 3 Boobies, Boobies, Nothin' But Boobies out of 5

Diamond Rugs - Blue Mountains

from their self-titled debut album (2012)

its a real hoot!